Prime Cooking

Lots of long hours of painting.  Right now I'm focusing on getting the kitchen done.  Not one room in our house is ready to be moved into yet, but I'm trying to change that.  

I started off by scrubbing the kitchen down.  I used a water and bleach mixture to begin.  Oh yeah, and there was some washing soda (not photographed) in there to.  For the tough spots I used Goof Off to cut through the heavy grease that clung to the walls around the stove.  I think I'm in love with this Cabinet & Wood cleaner, it smells like amaretto.  The Goo Gone was for paint spills or super sticky spots.  I also removed any outlet and light switch covers, vents, and the ceiling light fixtures.  

After the cleaning I taped any areas I didn't want paint on.  I also covered some of the cabinets with plastic.  Normally I would prefer to remove the kitchen cabinets before painting, but this paint job is just a temp fix until I can take the ceiling tiles and wood paneling down.  I taped around the whole perimeter of the room, leaving no gaps between the baseboards and the floor.  Even in the small closet.  

Once everything was covered I started with primer.  I used Kilz2, and a large pan for my roller, and a smaller tray for my edging brushes. 

I like to have a variety of sizes for painting the corners, and all the grooves in the paneling.  Cutting in from the edges with the paint brushes makes rolling a lot less messy.  I used the larger roller for the ceiling and large expanses of wall space.  The small roller for over the doors, and over the cabinets.  

This is an example of one coat on the left, and two coats rolled out on the right.  The right side still needs a second coat with the brushes in the corners and along the edges.  My biggest tip for getting nice even coats of paint is to avoid splatter marks or drips.  If they do happen, roll over them or brush over them with a brush that has little to no paint on it.    When rolling if you are creating lines use less pressure, and make sure you're applying even pressure over the whole roller.  If it looks uneven and patchy when wet, it will still be uneven and patchy when dry.  

Here is another example of two coats on the left, and one coat on the right.  As long as your first coat is smooth it will be easy to fill in with the second coat.  If you do have drips be sure to sand them, and clean the surface before painting another coat.  

Today I finished two coats of primer on the ceiling, and all the walls except for in the closet, and around the cabinets.  So far I've spent three days priming this kitchen, and two days cleaning it!  I'm looking into buying a airless paint sprayer for the rest of the house. Painting is way too time consuming.  

Hope ya'll are having a good day, and happy DIYing, chris!  

Valentine's Day Card

This is my Valentine's Day card to my sweetie.  I started by using my x-acto knife to cut out a heart in wax paper.  I should have used freezer paper, but I read on the internet that I could use wax paper.  That's what I get trusting what I read on the internet! :)  Wax paper doesn't stick when you try to iron it down.  My solution was to get out some 3M Spray Mount, and to spray just a super light coat on the wax paper.  

Then I pressed it down on a piece of handmade paper.  I painted the heart in white, and peeled the stencil off.  Worked out great!

I also cut out a chevron design from a piece of wax paper, and used the same technique to apply it to the first heart.  Before I placed the wax paper down I waited for the white paint to dry, and I torn the paper down to size.  I used a ruler as a straight edge, and just peeled the paper off.  Than I mixed up some light blue paint, and filled in my chevron stripes!  

I peeled off the wax paper, threw it away, and wow is this heart cute!  

To finish it off I glued it on top of another piece of handmade paper.  The first sheet of paper is made from a pulp of garden weeds and junk mail, and the bottom sheet is from my crayon paper project.  

Here's the back side.  I like to write my messages out, but you could always use a stamp.  

Hope you enjoyed!  Happy DIYing!  chris

Day 1 - Updating A Planter

Updating an old plant pot is today's Do It Yourself.   I have an orange planter that's been around for ages, and my gerbera is long overdue for a replanting.  However,  the flowers on the gerbera are orange, and though orange is one of my favorite colors I wanted to update the planter first.  

WHAT YOU'LL NEED:

- empty planter

- painter's tape (2 inch)

- two types of house paint

- straight razor

Directions:

I started off by taping off the bottom part of the pot.  I butted the tape up to the bottom edge of the planter.  I used small pieces all around the edge, because the curve of the planter didn't allow me to just wrap a single piece around the bottom.  Once I was done taping off the bottom, I had to use a straight razor, and make the top edge even all the way around.  

Then, I took four strips of tape, and placed them vertically, and evenly spaced around the pot.  Making sure to go over the edges of the tape; to ensure no paint will seep under them.

Now paint two sections one color, and then paint the other two sections and the bottom the other color.  Be careful to make smooth even strokes with your brush, so you don't have any streaks.  Since the tape is so wide you can hold the planter on the tape, and maneuver it around to paint every exposed spot.  I'm keeping the inside orange, so when painting the top edge make sure you paint doesn't drip down the inside.  

You may need to let it sit, and paint on a second coat.  Afterward, let the planter sit overnight before peeling the tape off.  

We will finish this project tomorrow!  Until then, happy DIYing!