Re-finished Outside Light Fixtures

Our outside light fixtures were starting to look really bad- they were brass, and  the weather had started to rust & dull them.  

  I didn't get a picture of the light fixture before we took it apart- but you can see how bad they looked....

First we took off the bottoms & pulled out the glass panels

Then we painted them with Rust-oleum hammered spray paint.  I don't have a picture of the can of paint, but it's the same paint I used on the jars I made a few months ago.  If you want to see what the can looks like go to the post on Jars, and there is a picture of it there.  I LOVE this paint. If you use a primer before using the paint, it will provide added protection.

And this is what they looked like after we were done.  Not too bad for a Saturdays work!!!

Get Organized!!

A few months ago I did some organizing around the house-- a few simple things that have made a huge difference, here's what I did..... 

The first one is inside the cabinet next to my oven.  I have a drawer FULL of hot pads.... too many in one drawer, so I put a 3M hook on the inside of the cabinet door and hung a couple of them there.  I love this and use them a lot- they are very easy to grab. 

The next one is probably my FAVORITE!!! I have serveral sets of measuring spoons--  I am always trying to sort through them to find the one I need.  This is brillant... again I used very small 3M hooks- I think they were for keys.  They are perfect to hold a single measuring spoon on each one, you can tell at a glance which spoon you  need.  

 This one is a close second to my FAVORITE!!!   Are you always trying to fish out the tweezers in your make-up bag?  Well here is the answer.. hot glue a strong magnet onto the inside of your medicine cabinet & wah-lah you have tweezers right where you can find them every time!  Love this one!!   The Razor is held by a pencil holder-- they work great for tooth brushes too! 

And the last one is a very bright idea!!   I actually bought this flashlight and it had the magnets already on the back-- And it cost me a lot of money too!  Well, the store was closing so everything was at least 50% off-- but you can make your own out of any flashlight, for hardly anything.  Just glue a heavy duty magnet onto the back of any flash light & put it on your breaker box-- in case of an emergency you will always have a flashlight handy.
Well, there are a few ideas for you to be thinking about this week--- it's amazing how small changes can make the biggest difference!!  Makes life a bit easier!!   Good-Luck. :)

Spray paint those old ugly plastic lawn chairs

I had a couple of white lawn chairs that were looking pretty UGLY!!

After many years of use around the fire pit, they were really dirty and it wouldn't wash off no matter how hard I scrubbed them.   I was going to get rid of them, but then I thought maybe I would try to spray paint them-- I figured I had nothing to loose!  So this is what I did...

First I took a can of cheep black spray paint & painted them with that, then I used the Rust-oleum hammered finish brown spray paint that I have used on the jars I've been making. 

and this is how they turned out.... I love them, I figure it cost me about $4.00 a chair. So I can live with that, I haven't priced new chairs, but I'm sure they are aroung the $8.00- $10.00 dollar range.  And I like the fact that I re-used something that I already had instead of sending it to the dump!!

Here is a picture of the spray paints I used-- you could use any color, I tried a yellow color I had first- but it didn't cover up the black marks on the chair.   The black as a base coat worked well.  So there ya go get out there and find something to spray paint today!!! 

Restain Your Banister

My mother decided that she wanted her family room to look different. When you walk in her front door, the stairs to the basement are about 5 feet away from the front door, and to the right of the stairway is the family room. She has this oak banister that she wanted to change. This process does take some time but it is well worth it in the end. Just by staining the railing her family room looks really classy.

The first thing she did was sand it down. This does take some time but is a very important process when staining to get the right color.
After the sanding is done, wipe down the railing so nothing is on it. Usually when you stain they say to use a natural or acrylic bristle brush, apply the stain then wipe it away. What my mom did is used a foam brush, applied the stain and DID NOT wipe the stain off. This gave her a darker and richer color.
She started by staining the top and the bottom of the banister.

Then did the rails in the middle. After the stain has dried apply a coat or two of polyurethane. Let that dry and this is what it looks like!!!!! It is cute and classy.

This is the stain we used. This stain is AMAZING!!!!

Spray Painting

I have been spray painting & I can't stop!!! Really I have been on a spray paint binge lately. Maybe it's because I bought some to spray the jars we did a awhile ago, and then because I had paint left over- I just started looking around to see what else I could do.. and I found a couple of things around the house that needed a face lift.


the first thing I found was the toilet paper stand in the bathroom off of the laundry room downstairs. It looked so gross, there were water spots all over & it had started to rust- I couldn't get it clean... so I was going to DI it but then I thought - Hey I'll try painting it


and look how great it turned out!! I love this spray paint I've been using. It's the Rust-oleum brand, the one with the hammered finish. You can buy it anywhere they sell spray paint.


Heres the finished project!! I thought it turned out pretty good, and I didn't have to buy another one- so that's always a good thing.


The next things I found were the heat vents.. really have you ever priced a heat vent?? They are so expensive, and I needed to replace quite a few of them... after 20 years they had started to look really bad. So I gave them a good coat of paint and........



They look like brand new ones!! They were easy & dried within an hour. So before you go buy new ones.. check out the spray paint isle.