$22 Glass Display Cabinet

I love precious moments. I don't know if it's because I am heavily influenced by my mother, or the precious moment children Bible that I had.  I tried not to buy too many because of the frequent moving, but somehow I ended up with a lot of figurines from friends and spontaneous purchases; and they ended up on my shelves catching dust.

So one thing that I really wanted for my new "playhouse" is a glass cabinet to house all my figurines.  After diligently searching on Craigslist, I got this glass cabinet originally from IKEA for $22! (And it comes with the light too!)

To go along with the white with a splash or red/orange theme in the living room, we had to spray the top and bottom pieces white. Personally I think it looks great! 

 

Completed Bathroom Photos!

This sounds weird, but welcome to the bathroom!  With the new espresso frame for the mirror, we got the ikea RIBBA picture ledge as shelves to hold bottles and stuff.  And in case you haven't noticed the bathroom sign, that was a surprise find at staples when we were waiting for the print. 

And finally, featuring my third printable, specially made for this bathroom! Still experimenting with illustrator... currently in the process of making a christmas card (because it is going to take me a long time) and a banner for the blog! 

Lastly, just a photo of laundry area with the pretty wooden letters I got from Michael's! Thanks to the numerous pictures I saw on my favorite site!

Off to Portsmouth, NH!

 

In my mind, this is not really a road trip since it's only two hours away.  Nevertheless, I heard it is a cute little town to visit besides seeing the nature in New Hampshire. Love how the city center is built for tourists with a lot of pretty little stores.  Though overpriced (you can buy a bottle of wine here for $40 and the same bottle at a freeway-side liquor store for $10), the boutiques and shops are pleasant to look at.

We stopped by Portsmouth Brewery for dinner because it has a high rating on Yelp! Too bad it was a total disappointment or else the trip would have ended on a good note (that's why I don't want to give Portsmouth Brewery a restaurant post). Their beer is so-so (Sorry but Sam Adams is way better) and the food we ordered was so terrible that I couldn't remember what we had when I typed this post (some mussels, deviled eggs, fish?). Anyhow, their taco salad looks pretty good but I don't feel like I should promote that as a dietitian (plus I did not get to taste it).

Bathroom Mirror Project

 

This was how the bathroom looked like.  In need of some "personality"...?  I started using my two most valuable resources - time and internet to see what I can do about this bathroom mirror.  And I came across several blogs that has great tutorials on framing mirrors with moldings.  So I made my "driver" (because I still don't have the courage to drive in Boston) drove me to the BIG store again and wandered into the molding section (next to all the woods and building materials.. I had to admit it's quite scary). I was sick of painting then so when I was relieved to find this dark brown/espresso molding.  I only need two 7-feet molding (total cost ~$18 dollars).

Measured out the length. And my first time using a miter box ever! I did not even know how to pronounce the word - a staff at home depot taught me : p

 

My first cheap cheap seven-dollar miter box.

With liquid nails and caulking gun (of course I did not do this part myself).  Don't you think it looks so much better already? Even with the painter's tape?

I don't have a good picture of the completed bathroom yet (because technically this is my play-room/house not my living space).  But hopefully I can upload a nice picture with all the decorations (and of course featuring my 3rd printable!) soon.

P.S. I am not really a pro in home improvement/DIY projects, so it's better to read tutorials like this one from Elizabeth & Co.

August was Kitchen Month

This was how the kitchen looked like.  Since we don't have the $$$ needed, we cannot upgrade the appliances or cabinets.  But this dark green laminate countertop makes me sad every time I see it, so after some research online.  We bought a countertop transformation kit from Giani at around $60-70 (much cheaper than the other brand in home depot at ~$150).

So we painted the countertop with a black primer that comes with the kit, waited a day, and sponged some pearl white paint onto the countertop.

 Next is sponging on a dark black paint.

And it ends with a bronze paint followed by a clear coat on top.  Looks like granite to me! ... at least it's much better than the original green laminate!

So after my "success"with the countertop, I decided to give mosaic tiles a try.  I remembered seeing flowers made out of tiles on the bathroom wall of some fancy restaurants and thought I could easily recreate something similar... and that thought costs me be two weeks.

I went to the big orange and white store again and got a roll of fiberglass mesh (at the windows section), a huge bottle of glue, some thin-set mortar for glass tiles, caulk x 4 and waited at home for the grey and white tiles that I ordered online to arrive.  I measured out the dimensions (including the light switches etc) and lay out the pattern on the floor.  Then we glued the tiles to the mesh using regular craft glue (with parchment paper underneath), left it overnight to dry, and with the help of Kenny (..hehehe...), put the tiles up using thin-set mortar.

Then the problem came, we used a caulking gun and some caulk we got from the store and thought it looked perfect!... until it dried and we realized we bought clear caulk instead of white. And now we have to go back and get some other ones to finish this up.  But still! Don't you think it looks nice (ignoring some uneven-ness)?

 We also got this fancy set of LED stick on lights with switch at Costco for within 30 dollars.

Thanks to Pinterest (yet again) and the inspiration it gave me, I got this plate rack for $1 at a crate and barrel sale and I am loving my organization of the lids!

Then it's time for some more decorations. Printed these from Over the Big Moon, except I used illustrator to make the last spoon print vertical. And I am loving the Coca Cola print, so much for being a dietitian.

 Anyhow, I am loving the new kitchen!