Christmas Fun: The Annual Card 2015

This year's annual card was ... you guessed it... rushed yet again.

So, working my limited Photoshop skills and parlaying them into a worthy holiday card.

Step one: Come up with a funny theme that doesn't take a lot of time or effort. Mugshots!

Step two: Gather my rag-tag group and take some photos in lighting similar to that of an line-up.

Step three: Hold up a blank card for Photoshopping later

Step four: Let your kid do whatever she wants. Toddlers cannot be corralled. I repeat: Toddlers cannot be corralled.

Step five: Teach your husband about duck lips.

Finally, add this year's terribly funny photo with Santa!

I love that our mall Santa has different cards, and I absolutely love that they grabbed the "naughty" one when she started to cry. Perfection.

Not bad for a quicky!!

To check out the previous years' card, click here!

Fixing the Bathroom

Okay, okay...

I can't make you wait any more. But if you missed the steps, check out part 4 here.

Before, with its pink curtains, pink square tile, shelf mounted too high and utilitarian mirror...

After.

Faucet by Glacier Bay.

Shower curtain from Simon's.

Vessel Sink by Kohler (Vox)

Kitchen rail and hooks by Ikea, modified rail from wood to copper.

Baskets by Ikea

A quick copper sheet applied to the light fixture until I can decide on a light fixture.

Loki approved.

Now, as long as I don't turn around and look at the bathtub... it will look perfect!

That is a project for another day.

Breaking the Bathroom - Part 4

I decided on a sink!!

So the saga continues. If you missed the progress so far, check out part 3 here.

I found a beautiful sink online. It was the perfect height and proportion for my existing vanity. But I didn't like the sticker price. I ended up finding the same Kohler sink for a little less money at Wayfair.

I ordered it on a Tuesday and had it by Friday. Not bad at all.

The main problem is they didn't include the template, which apparently is a common review for this.

Luckily, I like math, did a few quick measurements and figured out the cutout size.

I used a jigsaw on the small cutouts and thanks to the tape, ended up with a nice clean cut.

Under the watchful eye of my favourite supervisor, we plopped the sink in and began to caulk the sink and the spaces where the tile meets the counter.

Maybe tomorrow I will share the full reveal?

Maybe. Maybe not...

Breaking the Bathroom - Part 3

Welcome to part 3 of Breaking the Bathroom. If you missed part 2, you can find it here.

After falling in love with, then waiting for my new tile to arrive for 2 months, the day finally came!

In order to put the new tile on, I first needed to remove the faucet and old sink. 

 

One last look at this old beauty.

Using a couple of putty knives and set to slowly scraping the old sealant off.

This takes a bit more time than you'd think... you need to very gently pry the sides up. Not shown is when I used a small piece of wood trim to hold up the front edge while I worked around the sides and back.

I cleaned off all the old caulk/sealant, and pulled out my mosaic tile. Thanks Ames tile for being amazing!!

Working in roughly 18" sections, I put on the thin-set, then used the notched trowel to take off the extra.

I started with one sheet high, knowing that I would want to fit the mirror frame first to ensure that the tile fit properly. 

I installed the mirror frame, which was super snug and perfect. I put down some painter's tape to protect the new frame, then was able to fit exactly one row of mosaics into the top space. 

Another 30 hours or so, and I started in on the grout. I chose a white on white look for subtlety. 

Then, I needed to look for a new sink. I agonized over this decision, because the lazy (and partly purist) part of me wanted to head to restore, find one that was the exact same size and plop it down. 

Check back tomorrow to see what I decided to do! 

Sorry, I know I suck with these "to be continued" endings.

Breaking the Bathroom - Part 2

Welcome to part 2 of Breaking the Bathroom. If you missed part 1, you can find it here.

I found a tile I liked and decided to order it. It is beautiful! I love it.

Turns out the only tile i liked was on back order and wouldn't be in until August. Being that it was June, I had two months to wait for my order to come in. A small part of me died inside. 

Naturally, I can't sit still for long, so I started a new project to complement the tile once it came in: A mirror frame!

I started by installing a half inch wood trim around the existing medicine cabinet, to allow for a buffer around the operable mirrored doors. It perfectly matched the depth of the cabinet.

Next, I bought some lumber and started to measure out my sides to match the height of the existing mirror cabinet, plus the half inch trim on top and bottom.

Then cut them to size.

Next, I sanded them twice with two different grits to make them nice and smooth.

Now with a top and bottom rail, and 4 vertical rails for my frame, I was ready to stain them to match the existing lower cabinet, which I love so much.

The first coat ended up darker and browner than I'd have liked so I had to had to go back and get some cherry to warm and redden it.

I used my corner clamp to screw and glue my pre-drilled holes and assemble my frame.

I took the frame inside, put it up against the mirror for a test fit and to double check the location of the inner rails. This ensures a snug fit around the medicine cabinet. Then I filled all of the holes with wood filler, re-stained them.

I'm not actually going to show you the finished product yet until the tile is complete... but here's a sneak peak of the door pull I put on the mirror to ensure we could still open the medicine cabinet. 

See more tomorrow! I promise...

Breaking the Bathroom

I kept looking at this 55 year old backsplash tile, thinking, "Surely the mortar behind the tile would be old and crumbly by now... right?" I kept looking at it. Then one night 3 weeks later, I tapped it with a hammer. I tapped it, and the corner just popped right off.

I had a box of beautiful 2x8 white Bellavita tile that I purchased over a year earlier, and I just hadn't had the time to get on with it.

So after I put my kid to bed, I started tapping away. Carefully pulling the tile away from the wall. That first tile was so easy. 

In fact, that whole first row was great to take off!

The problem is, by the time I got to the corner, the tiles were no longer easy to remove. How are they this stuck on after 55 years?

It became very slow going after this. 

It got to the point where I had to hype myself up and say, "only 20 more tiles left, only 19 more tiles left...". Why? Why did I do this to myself?

I finally got it all off, and set to repairing the wall with a skim coat.

After it dried, I sanded it smooth, and opened up my box of tile ready to get going on the tiling.

Public Service Announcement: Always open your tile when you pick it up to ensure that all of the boxes are indeed the same colour. Hello full box of charcoal. How did you get in there with my order of white tiles?

So after contacting the distributor, I discovered that this tile is discontinued. 

All I could do at that point was figure out what to use instead, and cover the whole thing with plastic until I did.

How's that for a cliff-hanger? Stay tuned for the next installment of Breaking the Bathroom, tomorrow.