The plumbing is finished!

The plumber arrived at 7 this morning!  The pipes were set into the trenches and I filled in around them with crusher dust.  I think it took me about 8 wheelbarrow loads.  Building biceps, building biceps.  That's my mantra these days.

My kids were terribly excited to have the new wash room up and running.  Is that just a boy thing or do young girls have the same fascination?  It leaves me bewildered and often frustrated on a daily bases.  Potty talk is hilarious in this house at the moment.

So now I am filling in the rest of the crusher dust over top of the pipe and then laying in some of the soil that I dug out to make the trench.  Finally, I will begin carting in more gravel to lay over the top of it all.  Some day, the deck will extend over this area.  Hopefully the next trench I dig unveils a chest of buried treasure to pay for that.

Digging the trench out by hand instead of hiring a machine saved me a lot of money.  I can't say it was enjoyable, but it feels good to have it done and know that I did that part myself.

Maternity to Fitted Shirt

Some of my maternity clothes have never left my closet.  Please tell me there are others with similar hidden secrets.  Though I am now 50+ pounds lighter than when I delivered my last child, I have held on to a number of items.  This plain brown top is one of them.  It is soft, stretchy and comfortable.  It is not something that I would wear outside my house, but it still gets worn around the house on occasion.  I wanted to make it a little more fitted and flattering though.  So here is what I did.

First, I found a fitted top in my drawer and laid it out on top of my maternity shirt.  Both shirts had been turned inside out.  Then I matched up the shoulder seams as best as possible and smoothed everything out.  Yes I like chocolate brown!

I took a washable marker and traced along the edge of the fitted shirt, leaving about 1/2" for a seam allowance.  I cut along the marker lines.

The front of my shirt was longer in the front than the back due to the extra material required to cover the baby bump. In my case it was easy, I folded over the existing hem and ironed it down.  The material is light enough that the extra layer didn't add any bulk.

Then I began sewing from each sleeve opening down to the bottom.  I also ran a stitch line across the front bottom hem to keep it in place.

Easy to do and the shirt no longer leaves the neighbors wondering if another little one is on the way!

Digging in the Earth

I am definitely an "earthy" type girl.  But my most recent project has left me a little less dirt loving than usual.

With the home renovation, a new bathroom and laundry tub was added to the house.  Unfortunately, as life unfolded, this part of the remodel was never finished.  It has been several months now, and in order to get it done before the cold weather arrives, I decided it was time to get started.

I can't afford to rent a proper machine right now, so it was me, my pick-axe and a shovel.  First I had to locate the septic tank.  A tip for anyone looking to find their tank - look for the spot where snow begins to melt first (obviously requires a cold climate).   I found mine after a few test holes, and began digging.  I found the concrete tank and after locating the corner, I was able to dig along the edge until I uncovered the existing pipe.

Now I had to dig trenches from the two pipes coming out of my house to the septic tank.  It took me two full days of digging.  My soil is a combination of hard packed clay and huge rocks, so it was pretty slow going.  The pick axe definitely made things easier.  The fact that there was a railroad tie embedded in the soil defining the edge of the old driveway, definitely slowed me down, but after an hour or so I had it removed.

The plumber is coming tomorrow, and I can't wait to have things up and running.  It will definitely make me feel like my house is getting closer to being finished.

Chore Chart

This post is technically not a using what you've got post, but I wanted to share it!

I have such a hard time with chore charts and checklists.  It has to be easy or it gets tossed to the curb.  Life is so busy and finding a way to simplify is my goal for the year.  After trying multiple chore lists I came up with the following plan.

I purchased a magnetic white board and some pretty scrapbook paper.  I was able to tuck the paper under the edges of the frame to hold them in place.  I used some chocolate brown bias tape to cover the paper seams.

For the chore items, I printed off each chore and glued it onto a small magnet.   For my younger child, I drew pictures so that he could visually see what was on his list.

Each morning, the items are lined up along the left side of their board.  As they complete each item, they move the magnet piece to the right side of their board.  We can all see at a glance what has been completed and what more needs to be done.  So far so good!

Chalkboard Picnic Table

I have this picnic table.  It's former home was a nearby public campground, and by the looks of it, many a camper feasted well on its boards.

The paint was beige and chipped, there were signatures and drawings all over the top.  The side pieces were bare plywood.  It could only get better!

I gave the whole table a good sanding with my hand sander.  There were quite a few knots and nicks in the top so I did what I could to sand them down.  Then I used spackle compound to fill in the holes and skim over the knots.  I lightly sanded these when dry, then repeated this step.  The last prep step I did was to give it a coat of primer.  

The fun part was finally getting closer.  I purchased a small can of black exterior paint and gave the table one complete coat of black paint.  When that was dry, I added another coat of black paint to everything but the table top.  For that I wanted to do something fun.  I found a recipe on the internet for chalkboard paint.  I used 1 cup of paint to 2 T of non-sanded tile grout.  I found taking the back of a spoon to the tile ground and grinding it as fine as possible before adding the paint worked best.  I applied two coats of this mixture to my table top, letting it dry well in between coats.

The result?

I think it turned out fabulous, and all the knots and nicks on the top are no longer noticeable!

I had some paint left over, so I painted some stones (AKA Pottery Barn Hack) to sit on the table.  A little pot of chalk, a sponge and my kids are now merrily drawing pictures and playing tic tac toe on their huge new chalkboard!  

Today's post is linked up to: The Idea Room  Whipperberry Shabby Nest Ladybird Ln Candace Creations Tater Tots and Jello Annemaries Breiblog Carolyns Homework Domestically-speaking Mommas Kind a Crafty Joyful Stamper Chic on a Shoestring Decorating

Up, Up and Away

I have been storing this lovely old picture frame for years - literally!  I knew someday it would come in handy, and the day finally arrived.

I wanted a bulletin board for my son's room.  Little boys need fun spaces to display their collections - and mother's need a way to keep those collections off the floor and on top of dressers.  The bulletin boards from the store had such a strong odour that I just could not bear to put one in my son's room.   So I pulled out the lovely old frame and came up with a plan.

I flatted a large box that was waiting to be recycled.  I was lucky that it did not have any major creases and was fairly thick.  I measured the opening of my frame onto the cardboard and cut it out.  I had a lovely piece of airplane themed fabric in my cupboard, and I cut it out larger than the cardboard.  I took white glue, thinned it with a tiny bit of water and spread it all over the cardboard.  I placed the fabric on top of the glue and smoothed out all the air bubbles and bumps.  I also wrapped the fabric around the back and added staples close to the edge so that they would be hidden by the frame.

Finally, I used some chocolate brown bias tape to create the diagonal crosses.  I stapled them in place on the back.  I inserted the new bulletin board into the frame and tapped a couple of small picture hanging nails into the back to keep the cardboard in place.

The cardboard is thick enough for my son to use thumbtacks, or he can simply slide things under the bias tape.

An unexpected laugh

I saw this on Pintereset and I am putting this on my to do list!  So fun!

I originally saw it on Pinterest, but you can find it all over the internet.   Apparently everyone but me has seen

these and is either making them or selling them.  None the less, it gave me a chuckle today and now I'm searching for a cheap, plain mat to use.