#citychickens hash tag sign + Uncle Adam's urban homestead

My brother Adam will soon be getting backyard chickens! For the past few summers, he's had a big vegetable garden. What was once one bed, has multiplied into three-plus, so the next logical step is chickens. He's developing quite the urban homestead in his tiny city backyard!

He and my dad have been building a coop for the past few weekends, and it's almost ready. I wanted to make the new chickens a housewarming gift. My brother is using the hashtag #citychickens whenever he posts about them, so I thought it only appropriate they have their own #citychickens sign.

You know, so all the visitors to his backyard know how to tag when they tweet about them. ;)

I took a dated crafty wood sign I picked up a while ago at Goodwill outlet and just painted over it with leftover exterior paint I already had. I was going to do some proper lettering like I've done before, but I've been trying to break my perfectionist ways in order to create more time for myself. So I went with freehand. 

Is it perfect? Not at all. Is it OK for chickens/brother? Yes. Plus it has that down-home farmy feel. (Probably should have misspelled something for authenticity, though.)

While we were delivering the sign, we explored the garden. Gardening's not really my thing. (There's only so many hours in the day!) So Elise is thrilled to get some time in at Adam's house.

She picked tomatoes and peppers. And she is super excited about the incoming chickens. (She wants to name them Friendly and Hunter. Her suggestions were noted.)

Leave it to Elise to find a Minnie Mouse tomato.

We also explored the inside of the coop. This will probably be the only time I ever let them climb inside, because pre-chickens is the cleanest it's ever going to be.

Quickie bathroom refresh: New shower curtain and repainted register

Our main bathroom was calling out for some attention. We did a gut renovation in early 2010, but a quickie refresh was in order. First, a new shower curtain.

The old one was water-stained and snagged, and I was growing tired of it anyway. Changing out a shower curtain is so cheap and easy, there's no sense in living with something you don't like anymore.

I found this one at Target for $20. They have so many pretty options right now in their Threshold line, but I loved this all-over floral design the best. We definitely need a white curtain in this bathroom. The window is in the shower and when pulled closed, a white curtain still lets much of the light through. Getting rid of that swath of dark black at the top definitely brightened things up.

Quick change #2 was repainting the register. I feel like this is something I post about all the time. I think I've done like three other posts about painting registers (!) so I won't bore you to death again, but I just love our house's vintage cast iron registers. Especially in this room, it's an important period detail that's very noticeable.

I stripped and repainted it in 2010, but since then a bit of rust had started to peek through the paint. I had even used a rusty metal primer, but I guess the humidity in this room is just too much for even specialty rust products. We have an exhaust fan and use it all the time, and the rust probably would be worse if we didn't.

I did two thin -- almost drybrushed -- coats of black latex enamel and called it done. It took three years to start rusting, so I didn't even bother using another coat of primer. I may come to regret that decision in the future, but I really didn't want to buy any more paint. (Have you seen my stash??)

I went all black this time instead of two-tone. Looks pretty slick! Definitely an eye catcher. Plus, the black should mask any rust that starts popping through again.

p.s. if anyone in the STL spots a vintage cast iron register like the one above at an antique mall, e-mail me at erin (at) lansdownelife (dot) com or shoot me a message through Facebook. I'm trying to scoop one up for my kitchen, and I've seen them from time to time, but of course, now that I'm on the hunt for one, I never ever see them.

The Jenny Lind nightmare and the make-do headboard

So you might have noticed in the shared kids bedroom reveal that something was missing. Something I told you I started working on way back in February.

Remember Jenny? Jenny Lind?

I got this headboard and footboard out of my parents' basement, but once upon a time, it was in my great grandmother's house. The finish was not good, so I decided to paint it and make it a fun big girl bed for Elise.

I briefly wondered if I should try and put the bed together to make sure everything was OK before I got started, as older beds can be slightly different dimensions than modern mattresses. But I was pregnant and that sounded like a lot of extra hassle. So instead, I got to work and figured whatever happened, we'd be able to make it work. This, my friends, is called foreshadowing.

It took me about 4-5 hours to sand both the headboard and the footboard. Thanks to some unseasonably warm and sunny February days, I was able to do 90 percent of the sanding outside. I used one of those foam sanding blocks; they are so much easier to use than regular sandpaper, especially when sanding something with a lot of curves and details like this. I'm a fan.

I was excited to get a custom-mixed enamel paint, but after a quick trip to Sherwin Williams, I learned that they couldn't mix enamel in a deep pinky red because they don't have a base for it. My options? Go with regular latex paint or pick a different color of enamel. I left the store with their advice so I could think about it.

I didn't want to use semi-gloss in this situation, so I decided just to get some flat paint mixed and then follow up with polyurethane. More coats, more work, but I could get the color I wanted AND that hard glossy finish. I ended up buying the paint at Lowes, though, because I didn't really want to make a special trip back to Sherwin Williams.

Then it was time to paint! I started out with my favorite stainblocking primer (Kilz Premium Latex) and followed up with a coat of flat gray paint in hopes that would cut the number of coats of pink I needed. Painting deep saturated colors on top of pure white primer is a lot of work.

It was around the second coat of pink paint (in total, my fourth coat) that I began hating this project. Why did I have to choose such a saturated pink? Why couldn't I have just used white enamel and have been done in two coats? Because my girl wanted a pink bed. And although I'm sure I could have talked her out of it, I wanted her to have a pink bed too. After the fourth coat of pink, I decided it was good enough to stop. The middle of a project can suck the soul out of you sometimes.

(Spray paint would have been a good option here, but being pregnant and winter, it wasn't going to happen that way.)

And then I went and had a baby and the bed sat in the basement for over a month. But near the end of April, I picked the brush back up and gave it two coats of polyurethane to finish it off. The shine! So pretty.

Then it was time to put the bed together. Sorry, no photos of this process. You'll soon find out why. My dad brought over the metal rails and the box spring just wasn't fitting. He thought maybe he had more longer rails still in his basement and maybe he picked up the wrong ones. Fast forward a couple of weeks, he brings a collection of six rails over. Dan and I struggled to get everything assembled and we discovered the first pair was way too long. Like six inches too long. We try a second pair, they were again too short. Like an inch too short. We try a third pair that seemed just about right and we put the box spring in and the whole thing was crazy wobbly, not to mention crazy high.

I don't think this old bed was intended for use with a box spring. It probably had some sort of platform missing. Anyhow, it wasn't working with the box spring. And it wouldn't work with just an unsupported mattress either. So we took it all apart again.

I talked to my dad and we decided that maybe we could just attach the headboard and footboard to a modern metal bed frame. Wait, make that just the headboard. The metal bedframe wouldn't be long enough to be able to attach the footboard as that end is usually open. OK, I thought, I'll sacrifice the footboard.

When he went to attach the headboard to the metal frame, the heights didn't line up well. The legs were all spindly where the metal frame would attach. There wasn't a flat surface where the two should meet. Not only that, but the headboard is slightly warped. (I noticed that before, but didn't realize it was going to be an issue.)

So now I have a beautiful but useless pink Jenny Lind headboard and footboard taking up space in my basement. All that time wasted! Eight coats of primer, paint and poly! Kills me.

I put so many hours into this project, I'm not ready to quit them just yet. I'm hanging onto them until I figure out if there's anything else that can be done with them. I've seen benches, etc. made from beds and cribs, so maybe they still have a future.

But what's the new plan for Elise's bed? We ended up using a plain metal bed frame to get everything up off the floor. At this time, I'm not ready to spend a lot of money on another headboard. The cheapest new ones I liked were still over $100. And after this debacle, I'm more than a little scared to go the vintage route.

For now, Elise's make-do "headboard" is two giant throw pillows from Home Goods. It is what it is, but I think it kind of works? It is a kid's bed after all.

I also think that it might be wise to wait until Etta's eventually out of the crib and then just buy two matching beds. The long-term plan is to move them upstairs in a few years and matching beds would look so good. Plus it gives me a few years to casually shop for a deal. And maybe my new-found fear of vintage beds will wear off a little.

Any ideas of what I could do with my useless headboard and footboard?

Printing on Con-Tact paper + Utensil holder makeover

I'd been on the hunt for a colorful utensil holder. You know, the canister by the stove where you put all your spatulas and slotted spoons.

There was nothing wrong with the one I had, but it was stainless steel. And next to a stainless steel toaster, in between a stainless stove and a stainless fridge under a stainless hood... well, things were looking a bit too samey. I wasn't finding anything I loved, which signaled it was time to change up the one I had with some paint.

I decided to make a sticker/stencil of sorts with Con-Tact paper. This is one of my favorite techniques for creating custom designs. The poor man's version of a crafter's die cut machine, if you will.

First, I found a shield shape via Google images and re-sized it in Photoshop. 

Then I printed it out on the paper backing side of a piece of clear Con-Tact paper with my normal home ink jet printer. Warning: Don't print on the shiny sticker side! And you probably don't want to send Con-Tact paper through a laser printer because they can get very hot and who knows what kind of mess that might make.

I cut the shape out with a scissors...

And stuck it like a sticker onto my surface, making sure to burnish down all the edges really well. I also masked off the top/inside and bottom of the can with some painters tape and paper so they would be protected.

Next, I spray painted the utensil holder for a smooth, glossy finish with aqua Valspar spray paint (Tropical Oasis). Valspar must have changed the formula recently because this dried a lot "harder" than when I worked with the same paint in the past. Much better! Plus it has a built-in primer and you can spray upside down and it dries super fast and it's cheap (only $3.98!). Winning x5.

After the paint had dried, I carefully peeled up the Con-Tact paper sticker. There was a little bit of gummy residue leftover, but I was able to remove it with some vegetable oil.

Sharp lines! The paint seriously looks like a factory finish. And the shield, my own personal superhero insignia. But if I ever get tired of the shield, I can just spin the can around to reveal the plain backside. Two in one!

Project FAIL: Painted bathroom sconces

I don't think I share enough of my project fails with you. Not that I have a ton of them, but when they do occur, I'm usually discouraged and it hardly seems worth the effort to put together a post about it.

But I don't want to give off the impression that everything happens without incident around here, so here's my latest fail.

When we remodeled our bathroom, I chose these vintage-style sconces. They were from Lowe's and budget-priced at $30 each (although I don't think they sell them anymore). But I still find myself lusting after fancier, pricier painted shade sconces such as those at Schoolhouse Electric.

Photos: Schoolhouse Electric: 1 / 2 / 3

I even considered purchasing replacement shades for the existing sconces just to give them a bit more style, but who knows if they would actually fit in the fixtures correctly. Plus even that option would have me spending an unnecessary $70+.

And then I had a giant "duh" moment: I could just paint the shades I already had!

After removing the shades and washing them in some soapy water, I cleaned them with rubbing alcohol (per the instructions on the bottle of craft paint).

Then I taped off my first stripe. It took a while because I was trying to match the decorative edges in the shade.

After burnishing the edges of the tape down, I painted the exposed area with three thin coats of glossy craft paint.

When the paint was dry, I peeled off the tape and... bleh. Not only did the paint bleed a little under the tape, the stripe just looked heavy and sloppy. I had planned to do a second thinner stripe, but just scrapped the entire project once I saw the results of the first. Project fail.

Luckily, craft paint is pretty easy to clean off glass, especially when it's fresh. I soaked the shades in some hot water for a while.

And most of the paint scraped right off without much effort. I did have to scrub a bit to get the last little bits off, but they cleaned up completely. And we're back to where we started. Hmph.

Update: High contrast, black and white paintings for baby

Basically, this post is just another opportunity for me to show you more baby photos. 

But seriously, I was amazed that at only two days old, Etta was totally checking out the black and white high contrast paintings Elise and I made for her. We hung them right next to the changing table, and when she's there, she is fixated.

It made Elise feel pretty good that Etta was so interested in something she made. So good that she thought Etta might also be interested in her crayon drawings. Big sister/baby sister relations success!

Stimulating high contrast paintings for baby

We're still getting ready for baby around here! I put together this simple "sibling activity" to get Elise more excited about baby sister and their shared room. Plus, she's always up for any crafty project I can throw at her.

There's a lot of research out there that suggest babies prefer to look at black and white geometric patterns and high contrast images. We decided to make some of our own to hang up near the baby's changing table to give her something interesting to look at during diaper changes.

I bought some small 6"x8" canvas boards at Michaels for a few bucks. We covered them in office supply dot stickers and painters tape, creating different geometric patterns.

Then Elise painted the entire canvases in black. I didn't care that the coat of paint was uneven. Actually, I think it gives it some extra interest. But if it bothers you, a second coat of paint will take care of it.

Before the paint dried completely, I carefully peeled off the stickers/tape revealing the white below. The edges of the stickers came out a more raggedy than the tape due to the texture of the canvas, but that's OK. Handmade!

For the polka dot and striped paintings, that's all we did. Easy peasy.

The diamond pattern was a bit more complicated. Initially, I thought it would only take a couple of layers, but I took over and ended up doing multiple multiple layers of tape and paint. Honestly, I stopped taking progress photos, and I'm not sure it would be worth explaining in detail. Sorry. If anyone is super interested, leave a comment and I will write up an explanation. See below for a photo explanation of how I did it!

p.s. Of course, Elise had to take some project photos with her own camera. My little blogger without a blog.

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Update 03/25/2013: Baby Etta is fascinated by the paintings! Even at only two days old!

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 Added 02/24/2013:

A brief explanation of how to complete the diamond pattern, in photos.









[I don't have a photo of this, but paint the exposed gray diamonds in black, then peel off the tape.]