Painted wood molding kitchen backsplash

This is the story of how I took a weird problem and turned it into a design feature.

I ordered our new laminate counters without that four inch integrated backsplash so they would look a bit more high-end. But our old counters had that backsplash, and we didn't know what was behind it.

It was a risky move. I expected I would have to do some wall repair (sanding and repainting), but I didn't expect to find this:

Weird holes in the paneling where the electric had been run. Under every outlet. These two walls are masonry, so the wiring isn't really inside the wall. And that left me with these unpatchable holes.

But I also didn't expect to find this.

Big gaps between where the countertops and the walls were supposed to meet. Nearly three quarters of an inch in a few places! Our countertops are square, but we discovered the room is not. Ah, old house. You got us again. So even if I had been able to patch the holes in the paneling, I would still have been left with the gaps.

I gave it a lot of thought, looked at a lot of photos for inspiration, and adding molding was the most elegant solution I could think of to solve both issues. Maybe not ideal, but making the best of the situation I got myself into.

I didn't want it to look like we were just slapping some lumber up on the wall to hide the ugly. Too obvious. So we added the decorative lip to make it look more intentional and to blend with the rest of the trim in the room.

My dad made all of this from some scrap barn wood he planed and smoothed out. (It's the same wood he used to make our cottage style shutters too!) I think he bought the decorative trim for under the lip, but all the other wood was from his stash. After he installed it all, I filled the screw holes and painted the trim and the lower half of the walls the same shade of white (Valspar's off-the-shelf Ultra White).

Throughout this entire process, I had my doubts. Would it look strange? Would it stick out? Truthfully, it wasn't until I got it all painted that I was completely sold. Now it blends right in with the rest of the trim in the room. Like it's always been there!

Ugly craft makeover: Wooden toy sewing machine

After watching me work on a couple of quilts, Elise became really interested in my sewing machine, asking how it worked and politely inquiring if she could make a quilt of her own. Obviously at three years old, she's too young for real sewing, but I realized this would be the perfect time to give one of my thrifting finds an ugly craft makeover.

I found this wooden sewing machine at a thrift store a couple of summers ago ago for $3 and it has been sitting in my basement ever since. I don't think it was a toy, but rather a prop for an industrious doll or teddy bear in the country crafts eighties. Oh, the gorgeous things those teddy bears used to sew back then!

It was an awkward height even for a kid sitting down, and I wanted to make it similar to a modern day table top machine, so with a little help from my dad, we pried off the bottom stand portion. Sorry, Salley.

After sanding it and scraping off some random hot glue globs, I primed with a stain-blocking primer and painted it a cool mint green.

Then it was time for the details. I added a spool pin (made from a chopstick) on the top right. The pin that was already there was on the "wrong" side for a modern machine, and it was too thick to hold a spool anyway. My real machine has a metal piece that sticks up on that side to guide the thread, so it doesn't look out of place.

The body of the machine was lacking dimension, so I also added some dials made out of two-inch wooden wheels from the craft store. They are attached with screws through the center, enabling the dials to turn like a real sewing machine.

To add to the play factor, I picked up a package of unfinished wooden spools and painted them a rainbow of colors. So far, I think this Elise's favorite part of "sewing." Changing the thread. She has a lot to learn.

But what's a sewing machine without something to sew? I raided my stash of fabric scraps to make some faux sewing. I even hand stitched a heart on one with some embroidery thread.

I was kind of surprised that this was one of the toys under the Christmas tree that she really gravitated toward. She's in that imaginative play stage, so the timing was right. Can't wait to have a mother-daughter sewing afternoon soon!