Tag: painting

The First 3 Days of Homeschooling

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It wasn’t all rainbows and puppies, but it wasn’t tear inducing either. It feels like we are slipping into a routine. Mal is learning to hover around the girls and play with all the books they read and the tools they use.

Yes, that is a paintbrush in his mouth.

For the entire recap, Day 1 was met with excitement from Elly and Brooke. They were thrilled to see the stack of books and magnet letters I laid out the night before.

Thanks to our local Pottstown Regional Public Library, the books were all new to us. After an hour of homeschooling, we jumped in the car and traveled to Weavers Orchard for their storytime and fruit picking.

We listened to them read Blueberry Shoes.

Then armed with pint containers, we were directed to rows and rows of blueberry bushes.

We all had fun picking blueberries, even Malcolm who ate a mix of blueberries, mulch, hay and dirt.

The funny thing is that we read books everyday and we pick fruit at Weaver’s Orchard on a fairy regular basis, so it felt weird to call it homeschooling. May all school days be so easy.

Day 2 was met with some griping and whining, even though I started school off with a Froot Loop sort and count activity. I even let them eat the Fruit Loops and they still complained! I truly believe Elly thought that if she complained enough, then I would forget this whole homeschooling business and she could go back to riding her bike from sunrise to sunset. Thankfully, Elly hates being sent to her room more than she hates school, so she gritted her teeth and trudged through. Brooke tried a more passive approach of just not paying attention, so I took that into account when planning for future days.

Do you believe Elly griped the loudest over making an octopus craft? It involved pipe cleaners, pom poms, googly eyes and glue, all fun stuff.

Day 3 went smoother than the previous day. I pulled out a sand art craft and dangled it over their heads for half of the school time.

Though they were excited about practicing their handwriting in the sand and then making their sand craft, they were content to continue school even after the craft was over. We ended the day with a water color painting.

All in all, I am cautiously optimistic about Week 2.

Painting the Dining Room

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I have always heard that if you paint your dining room walls red, then guests will want to eat more and talk more.

I am not painting our dining room walls red. My cooking can stand on its own legs now and our family does not need any encouragement to talk longer.

No, I am painting the walls orange!

Well, everything above the chair rail is going orange and everything below the chair rail is yellow with orange stenciling.

Every time I stencil I fall in love with the process all over again. This stencil is from an Etsy store called Royal Design Stencils.

Now Dan was a little surprised by my choice in color. He even tried talking me into only painting one wall orange, but I couldn’t keep such a bright, fun color to just one wall. He’s lucky I am keeping it to the dining room. I could have painted our bedroom orange.
Oh, now there is an idea!

Back to the dining room.

This is the never ending paint project. According to my old blog posts, I started painting the walls below the chair rail in May 2012. Hopefully, I will finish painting above the chair rail by May 2014. I think it would say something bad about my character if I let the project drag on longer than 2 years.

Walls of the Same Color

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The living room walls have all been painted a bright, sunny yellow from their dingy pale yellow.

Started this painting project on June 17th 

Finished today, July 15th. It took me a full month to paint 4 walls.

Now the fun can begin.

Guess what Dan is doing this Saturday?

When I asked Dan what he was doing this weekend, he told me that he had plans to go to a board game group and then nothing else. If he doesn’t tackle the carpet by ripping it all out, Elly and I will whip out some girl power and do it ourselves. We’ve done it before. 

I can’t wait to get rid of the last of the green rug. It’s going to feel like a hot shower does after rolling around in mud.

Poor Jake will miss the cushion beneath his aging bones, but the rest of us will love it.

The Walls Hate Me

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I’ve written about the walls in my dining room a few times and my stripe design.

First, I sanded, primed and painted them.

Then, when sanding off the primer and paint didn’t work, I scraped all the prime and paint off.

Next, I painted with an oil-based primer and painted a top coat of latex paint in white. 

While measuring out my stripes, the paint peeled up in one spot.

It’s small, but I don’t dare put up painter’s tape since it will likely peel more paint off. And though I swore I would run to the hardware store and buy beadboard because hell was going to freeze over before I scraped the walls down again, I have yet to visit Loews.

After living with the dining room walls white below the chair rail for 3 weeks, I know now that I do not want them to remain white. I love color. I need color.

So, we are on to plan B which involves more paint. Surely, more paint will solve my problem.

I’m thinking a base coat of yellow and an allover stencil of orange on top. The stencil will look similar to the scrolls on the fabric I am using.

Or should I go with a base coat of orange with black scrolls on top? Since the kitchen is next to the dining room, maybe I should incorporate turquoise into the colors.

Yellow and turquoise?

Whatever colors chosen,  I’m going to have a colorful house by the time I’m done. Oh yeah!

Ready for Stripes

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The walls beneath the chair rail have been primed and painted a boring white.

Elly helped. Remember how I recommended a shower cap for your young helper?
Well, a shower or painter’s cap is recommended for you too.


(That’s white paint in my hair. I don’t have quite that much white/grey in my hair yet though I’m working on it.)

I never needed a hat before Elly insisted upon helping. It’s clear I could use one now.

Back to my crazy stripe project.
Several of the stripes will be left white while the others will be painted yellow, green and orange.

I can’t wait to start painting the stripes. The thought of all those bright colors makes me deliriously happy.

Lots of prep work has to come first. Stripes have to be measured, drawn and taped. A painter’s cap must be obtained.

Redecorating for Free

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Mantle before

Long have I wanted to take down that oversized mirror. The main thing that gets reflected in the mirror is the ceiling. It looks ridiculous. Yet, I’m pretty sure I will have to paint the wall once it comes down and I’m just not ready to tackle another paint job.
Instead, I took one of my favorite paintings down in the dining room since it won’t go well with my new striped color scheme and leaned it up against the mirror.

Mantle after

I love the painting over the mantle! It blocks the majority of the ceiling view. It’s big enough to demand attention and not get swallowed up by the fireplace. The light brown border even complements the brick work. Why I might never take it down.

Dining room before

After moving the large painting to the mantle, the dining room walls looked stark. So, I went shopping in the guest bedroom and living room for more artwork.

Dining room after

The Peale Family used to hang in the guest bedroom. I’m not sure why I never tried hanging it in the dining room before. It fits better here. The Peale Family is gathered around their dining table. It only seems right to hang it next to our dining table. Did you notice that the Peales have a red-headed daughter too?

To fill the remaining walls in the dining room, I gathered up my entire angel collection and hung them in small groups.

The wall over the hutch could stand to have a few more angels, which is just a lovely excuse to go visit my favorite thrift store in town.

Too Many Projects

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When I told Dan about my desire to paint the kitchen walls orange, he laughed at me and told me I had too many projects. Maybe he is right. Here is my current to-do list.

1. Sew a party dress for Elly and me – deadline Sept 22nd

2. Plant tomatoes, zucchini and more carrots in my vegetable garden – deadline Mother’s Day

3. Paint stripes in the dining room – deadline asap because the carpet is falling apart which is no surprise since it is probably 50 years old

4. Paint the door white in the dining room – asap – see above

5. Paint the rad cover white in the dining room – not essential as the radiator can just sit bare

6. Finish knitting the hexagon blanket before the weather gets warm – approx May 15th deadline

7. Sew sheer curtains for the dining room and living room – deadline Thanksgiving Day

8. Sew slip covers for the wing back chairs – deadline Thanksgiving Day

What’s on your to-do list?