The Dark Side Of The Bathroom

The light that I ordered for the bathroom just came in and I am SO excited!  But before I can get that baby up (and show it to you) there were a few things that needed to be taken care of.  The first of which was saying goodbye to this 80's beaut...

Goodbye little buddy!  But here was the thing, it is the only light in the room.  Do you see the problem?  To take it down I had to turn off the power but with no power I had no light to take it down.  Ahhh things are never simple.  

And speaking of never simple, I was home alone doing this project.  The hubs is in 80 degree Miami and I am stuck in feet of new snow schools closed lovely Madison.  I ran downstairs into the very depths of our basement to shut off the power but of course the circuits where not labeled correctly and the one named "hall bath" did not turn off the power to the hall bath.  Usually no prob...one person stands in the bathroom, one goes downstairs and turns things on and off until the other yells "that one"!  But nope, I had to switch off one circuit,  run upstairs and around the corner to see if the light was still on, run back downstairs and try another one.  I ran up and down the stairs 11 times (yes, I counted) before finding the right circuit.  U-G-H!   

OK, but back on track.  So finally I turned off the power and then I had to search around the house for light.  After a few laps I headed into the garage and grabbed these babies.

Wondering what's up with the dark pictures?  Well, see the thing is when a room is dark, the pictures are dark.  Sorry!

So in the romantic light of the camping lantern I took down the gold monster.  Goodbye.  Goodbye.  Luckily no huge problems taking it down.  The screws came off.  I did remember to remove the light bulbs first, just in case it came crashing to the ground.  And I even saved all the pieces so I can pass this baby on to the Habitat ReStore (which is also where the mirror is going).  

But of course a boomerang project developed.  You know, a project that happens when you start one project and then another project comes up that has to be done to complete the first project...a boomerang project.  In this case the boomerang project came because of these

Huge screws where holding the fixture to the wall and huge holes where for some reason needed for those screws.  No idea why.  I had never fixed a hole in the wall before.  But hey, no time like the present to learn so I went to eHow and found this tutorial on how to patch a hole in drywall.  And happily I already had all the supplies I needed except the self-adhesive mesh tape.  But all that took was a quick trip to my local ACE.

As instructed, I cut a piece of mesh tape and adhered it to the wall.  I put the spackle over it and let it dry.  The next morning I lightly sanded it and used spray texture to match the rest of the room.  Damn, I am good!

I know, great picture huh?!?!  But you don't see two holes on either side of the wires anymore, do you?

So the wall is ready for the new light.  And I will let you in on a little secret...I just put the light up and I love it!  But I'm not quiet ready to show it to you yet.  However, I will say I still have all 10 fingers and my hair is not standing up on end.  An electrical success (and my first electrical project, may I add).  So go ahead, pat me on the back and say good job :)  

Displaying Kid Art!

Way back when, I created this photo wall in my daughter's room...



It was a really simple project.  I went to the ribbon isle at JoAnn's and bought that thicker cording that is kinda like the good old boy scout belts.  Do they still wear those horrible things?  I also bought a little fun frilly ribbon to coordinate.  I cut slits at both ends of the cording, strung the frilly ribbon through and tied the frilly ribbon to create a loop.  I put two copper nails in the wall and strung the cording between them.  I attached pictures with some painted and some plain clothes pins and it was a great way to display cute pics in my daughter's room.



But I was recently sitting in her bed reading her a book and started thinking that maybe it is strange for a 3 year old to have a entire wall of pictures of herself in her room.  Hmmmm?  Is that odd or am I just odd?  Well, that's a whole other topic.  But maybe it is time to change it up.

Ever since she started school my daughter comes home with piles of papers.  Many of them "art" that I have no idea what to do with or honestly what they are.  I put them on the fridge for a day and then when she isn't looking I sneak them to the trash.  (Horrible mother, I know.)  But as she has become a big 3 year old in recent weeks I am trying to get her more involved in decision making so I thought maybe I could turn her picture of me wall into my art wall.  And when she brings home a new masterpiece that she wants to add to the wall she can decide what comes down and what stays.  What do you think?

So I snatched down all the pics and put them in a keepsake pile, which btw I need a true home for at some point - add to the project list.  And I have started putting up her art.  The very first to go up is my very favorite because it is her first ever scribble...

...and I was smart enough at the time to put a date on it so it is a great keepsake.  But as the art comes in it will go up and eventually rotate out.

And as I think about it, this idea was inspired by The Happiness Project idea of "be a treasure house of happy memories".  For a DIYer there is nothing better then the bargain of home made art and for our happiness there is nothing better then displaying things that fill your heart with wonderful thoughts.  So this project is a two for one deal, how about that!?!?!