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a day in the world
January 29, 2009a day in the world
January 21, 2009: : : :
Sonoma County Dec 2008
open
January 7, 2009: : : :
soaring – fresh – breath in
emerald sky is glowing
deep, unshakable
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welcoming an end / beginning
December 31, 2008: : : :
at the end of 2008 .
what has infiltrated my vocabulary & become part of my core.
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handmade holidays
December 23, 2008: : : :
A little somethin-somethin I fiddled with from last year’s holiday ornament leftovers. Here’s how to festive up your place using things you may already have laying around . . . I don’t have many holiday ornaments, but I keep everything togeher in a basket to pull out from year to year. Here’s what I discovered I had …
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. .Wrapped some multicolored yarn around a wood mesh ball. You could use a styrofoam florist ball or pretty much anything round. And of course any color of yarn that pleases you. Hooked silver ornament hooks through the top and through the bottom.
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. .Glued some inexpensive white “snowballs” top to bottom, snowman style – so each has a loop facing both up and down. Then took some fishing wire and threaded it all together in no time! No fuss, no mess, looks great!
Thank you to Apartment Therapy (via a Starbucks display they captured) for the “yarn wreath” part of the idea.
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privacy please
December 21, 2008: : : :
.My way of hanging curtains. Start with the basic tools: Screwdriver (usually phillips). I use a battery powered one to speed up the job and offer some extra oomph where needed. The rod brackets, finials and screws will usually come with a newly purchased rod – or you can find all of these common items at your local hardware store. Stud finder – I rarely use this but it looks cool to carry around. Simple horizontal / vertical level. And, very important, a pencil. Chalk works too. Oh, and don’t forget the stepstool and the curtain rod.
I like creating the illusion of larger windows by placing the rod as high as the finial will allow and not look forced. So measuring for this one was quite easy – I simply used the width of the level and backed the rod hook up to it. To make sure the holes were not vertically challenged, I also made sure the pencil marks were reasonably straight up and down. Remember that the screws are going to end up in the smaller area above the wide circles, not in the circle themselves. Because of this you have a tiny bit of wiggle room, but in the end it will be secured by the upper screw, top of the hole. Make sense so far?
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Pre-drill the holes into wall studs (slightly smaller than the screw you will be using). I use my power screwdriver with fitted drill bits. That way, one less piece of equipment to lose and store.
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Once you are ready to fully secure the brackets to the wall, start with the top screw and work your way down. Then, you can twist the bracket out of your way for that first semi-awkward screw hole. Don’t worry about any of the other little screws on the hook – this is for securing the rod once you have it up and in place. So if you need to take it out temporarily, that is fine.
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As you can see, I thought I drilled into a stud and the screw popped right out. That’s what happens when you carry around the studfinder just to look cool. Easy fix to this, I drill a slightly larger hole, pop in a drywall anchor. And drill the original screw back into the hole. You should now be good to go. Go ahead and put the rod up. Make sure you are actually level to the ceiling. Otherwise you may find yourself grumbling about it every time you walk into the room. If you are sliding drapes directly onto the curtain rod, do that now. If you are using o-rings or other curtain clasps, put those on now. Screw the finials on each end. And then you can adjust the little screws and depth of the brackets.
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Some hints: keep a fully charged dustvac nearby. You can suck that dusty drywall out of the corners and keep it off your new curtains! Also, don’t hesitate to turn that power screwdriver from auto to manual when you need more directed muscle power.
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In case you are wondering, yes, I do need to put up the middle bracket for additional support. This will happen, just not today!
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And the finished product . . . what do you think? Went with the tuxedo – style silk curtain over the floral Ralph Lauren-type drape. It works!
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fixing that itch
December 20, 2008: : : :
I like to fix things. Which is good. Because I generally buy furniture that is a little beat up and needs some tlc. I don’t go looking for it. But it’s nice to see scratches here and there and not let that deter me from an otherwise pretty, needed, functional piece. Plus I then have some bargaining leverage. Here are some angular side tables that serve a dual purpose as storage. I’ve had them for a number of years and the dents and deep scratches never bothered me in my old apartment. But now that I have dark floors, it really highlights how cheaply made these are. Here’s how to elevate some $20 pieces to more elegant decor.
1 – Get a wood stain pen. I am using Minwax wood finish stain marker in 2716 dark walnut. They are generally under five bucks. You will also want a paper towel handy. That’s it.
2 – Determine where the bulk of the damage is. in this case, it is all corners, sides and edges. I have one corner that is really damaged – hopefully you won’t have this extreme.
3- Test your color in an inconspicuous place. If it has an interior or underside top, play around there first!
4- If using a new pen, shake with lid on,
then press down on tip until color seeps to the bottom. Start wherever you desire. Try to go with the grain of the wood whenever possible.
5- Let it sit a couple minutes then use towel to blend in. If you get off track, then just wipe it off right away. If it looks awesome as is, then no need to blend.
6- Put piece in location where pets and children will not brush up against it. Let dry overnight.
Hint: I painted all of the corners (scratched or not) in the same type of pattern. So each now has a slightly darker corner curve. It looks as if it was made this way – and I think, better than the original.
Unlike me: You should not use tissue paper. It will leave bits and pieces in places you don’t want to leave anything!
Voila! Finished product:
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a day in the world
December 2, 2008: : : :
