Vinegar and Salt to Clean Old Faucet Bodies

 

After researching ways to remove lime and mineral deposit build up from these old faucet bodies, we settled on a concoction. Five table spoons vinegar to two teaspoons salt. WORKED LIKE A CHARM. After testing a few small pieces, we made a large batch of the mixture and let the faucet bodies soak. That was the key. That and then scrubbing them gently with a wire brush. The tedious part was picking at the grooves with a set of "dentist" looking tools Steven bought for the project. After paying to have the visible parts of these faucets rechromed, we just couldn't bring ourselves to screw the new, freshly chromed pieces, to these green scummy faucet bodies. What a pleasant surprise it was when, after a little elbow grease, they came out so clean and shiny. Steven has put one faucet body back together on the fresh, refurbished porcelain sink. Will take pictures of the final product once the sinks are hanging in the bathroom. Little by little...

Pumpkin Party Piñatas

In preparing for this year's Pumpkin Carving Party I thought it would be fun to do a recap of the last six years. It's fun to see each of the piñatas I've created, but it's even more fun to see the kiddos grow up right before your eyes. The kids are lined up according to age, so you'll see the same nieces and nephews in these pictures.

I create my piñatas using BIG blow up bouncy balloons as a base and then layers and layers of paper Mache (strips of news paper dipped in 1 part water to two parts flour mixture). I've found that colored tissue paper is the best for giving the final design the textured look. I brush on Elmer's glue and then scrunch pieces of tissues paper onto the surface where I've applied the glue. Hope to take pictures of my process this year and let you in on a little piñata durability secret! Stay tuned.

Pumpkin Piñata - Pumpkin Party 2004

Candy Corn Piñata - Pumpkin Party 2005

Acorn Piñata - Pumpkin Party 2006

Sucker Piñata - Pumpkin Party 2007

Corn Cob Piñata - Pumpkin Party 2008

Trick-Or-Treat Bag Piñata - Pumpkin Party 2009

Reuse or Repurpose Your Wedding Invitations

Photo by Jackie Ray Photography.

My sister and I came up with a great way to reuse/repurpose her extra wedding invitations. We made fans out of them by attaching a trimmed invitation to either side of a large, wooden popsicle stick. They were perfect for her outdoor summer wedding. My brother and his wife did the same thing with their extra save the date cards for their September, outdoor wedding. By cutting off the extra text and dates, they were left with a beautiful photo and their names.

This was a simple project that family members helped Katherine complete the evening before the wedding. Guests appreciated the fans and the final product fit nicely with the rest of the wedding look and feel.

From Photo to Watercolor Painting

My very talented friend, Cole Carter, painted this watercolor portrait of my brother Joshua and his wife Sarah. You might recognize the portrait as it was based on one of the photos from their engagement shoot. If you are interested in a portrait of your child or family, Cole Carter is your man. He captured them beautifully!

Flower Girl Dresses {FREE Pattern}

In June my sister and I spent DAYs together sewing four, flower girl dresses for her July wedding. We based the dresses on a free pattern from a wonderful sewing blog: madebyrae. Obviously they were each very different in size but the pattern scaled nicely and the addition of a yellow sash was just the touch they needed to make them formal enough for the wedding.

I haven't posted anything in the sewing category in a while and didn't want you to think my sewing machine was gathering dust!

Photo credit should be given to Jackie Ray Photography.

In addition to the dresses we also made this adorable ring bearer pillow. Thought I'd add it as inspiration for anyone planning a yellow and navy wedding!

Sisters

Watching Marin and Adalyn this past week has been amazing. I know they are three years apart and Adalyn is only four months old, but you can see a friendship developing already! Adalyn lights up when Marin is around. Arms and legs wiggling her face reflecting the joy inside each time Marin dances, sings, or even screams. As I type this, Marin is bringing Adalyn the entire contents of her toy box. "Wow….TOYS!!!” Screams Marin, while Adalyn, content to chew on a green teething ring, studies Marin’s every move.

On Wednesday, they were in the floor together, when I heard Marin giggle. I looked down just in time to see Marin placing a plastic ring on Adalyn’s ear. She then proceeded to place rings on each of her own ears. More giggling (and cooing) commenced.

What a treasure to watch them grow to love each other. I know they’ll have squabbles (what sisters don’t) but I’m SO excited to see them become friends and the best of playmates. It's little treasures like this, watching your daughters become friends, that makes parenting such a joy. (That, and little girl giggles.)

Fabulous French Doors!

Reed glass in Mahogany. Ahhhhhhhhh.....Seriously I've been dreaming of these doors since we bought the house (seven-long-years-ago). Still need to be stained to match the doors in the house and the cabinets in the bathroom, but it's installed and now we can finish the trim and baseboards in the master bedroom.

View from the master bedroom (see the louver closet doors in the background?)

View from the master bath into the bedroom.