They’re Baaaack!!

Well, you knew it had to happen…the mice are BACK baby!!

Technically, I think they’re called rats:

That’s what Martha Stewart calls them anyway. Or maybe they are mice? Who knows.

I just LOVE THEM.

I know they give some of you the heebs, but I’m quite taken with them. Look away my friends, look away.

I got a little, teensy more creative with them this year…a couple of them are checking out the kids:

And a few are rocking some sparkly witch’s hats:

I cut the hats out with my Silhouette, but they’re looking a little more like floppy beach hats then witch hats. Oh well. I still dig ‘em.

A few of you have asked if our stairs match the new floors:

No, not well. :)

The stairs are Bombay Mahogany (red) and the floors are Jacobean (brown). But I’m not complaining! I still love them both so much it hurts. ;) Someday I’ll have the stairs sanded down and restain them, but for now, I’m good.

Of course, I wanted to add a little glow to the fall stairs, so I added some DIY votives. I had picked up some cheapy light covers at True Value this summer to do an outdoor project, but the warm season got away from me.

Since I already had them, I decided to make them work for this season:

They are the glass covers that go on light fixtures and they cost $2-something each. They’re nice and lightweight, which gave me another idea, so I got a few more today for an upcoming project. We’ll see how it goes. :)

I filled them with cutie acorns I picked up at Meijer weeks ago:

They look like acorns roasting on an open fire, but the candle is really just an LED light. I’m obsessed with these things. I love how they flicker like real candles. (You can find them just about anywhere anymore, but I’ve gotten most of mine at the dollar store.)

I still say, for $50, this stair redo was the best DIY project I’ve ever done:

Cause now I can put rats mice on our stairs and that makes me silly happy. I love these little buggers.

I was going to put little teeny pumpkins by their little mice holes (like it’s their front porch…get it???) But I decided I should probably calm down and reel it in Sarah!

The sparkly witch hats are plenty:

(The pumpkins and votives are tucked under the railing so they aren’t a trip hazard.)

I can’t wait to get them all dressed up for Christmas!! (Don’t freak out. I don’t keep 12 rats mice on my stairs at Christmas. Just a couple.)

If you haven’t seen – the Dollar Tree has a TON of silhouettes this year – mice, crows, owls – bunches of them! The Martha Stewart mice are only $5 at Michaels (for 12) and I think I got mine on sale for even cheaper.

Can you even BELIEVE it will be November next week? I feel like it was June just yesterday. Crazy.

 

I was one of the bloggers selected by True Value to work on the DIY Squad. I have been compensated for my time commitment to the program as well as my writing about my experience. I have also been compensated for the materials needed for my DIY project. However, my opinions are entirely my own and I have not been paid to publish positive comments.

The Christmas stairs

So, remember that little bitty project I took on early this year? The one I wanted to tackle late last year, mostly because I couldn’t wait to see it all dressed up for Christmas?

That “little” project was taking the carpet off our stairs – and I may have mentioned it 149 times or so. :)

Our house has been decorated for Christmas for a couple weeks now, but because I had been waiting all year to see our stairs at Christmas, I saved that for the end.

But then I got a little lazy (OK, a LOT lazy), and didn’t want to unravel all of our lighted greenery I usually use. Knowing my luck this year, I’m pretty sure half the lights are going to be out anyway. That’s how I roll. (Apparently.)

So I had something else in mind, and I love how it turned out! I started with sprigs of greenery – I’m in LOVE with the beautiful greenery I’ve found at Big Lots this year and last, but they were completely out of it. Instead, I found this lovely little tree:

Isn’t it fantastic?? :) He’s just a little sad. But I loved his branches, so I just cut the pieces off and twisted a few together:

I had some small red ornaments I wanted to throw in, but I couldn’t find my floral wire anywhere (GAH), so I used some picture wire from True Value that I grabbed for another project:

And it worked great! I just cut little pieces off and strung a few ornaments on:

I nestled them in into the greenery pieces and called that part DONE.

Ever since I saw my friend Melissa’s precious mason jars, I knew I had to do something similar. I LOVE using these jars – I’ve collected quite a few at Goodwill over the years. I just needed ONE more for the stairs, and it took a few trips into the GW (we’re tight, so it’s “GW”), but I finally found it. :)

Melissa used Epsom salts, which looked absolutely lovely. I already had some faux snow, so I just used that. I had to buy one more bag, but they’re a great deal for $1.99 at Target:

A little goes a LONG way. Love that stuff – be sure to watch for it after the holidays and grab it up for half off! (You can see how I used this fluffy goodness in our dining room too.)

I just filled my jars, then plopped an LED tea light into the snow.

It’s so sweet and simple:

And you know what? I love it so much, I don’t miss the garland at all! I adore those glowing jars – and of course I only use Ball jars, as a double thump to the chest to my alma mater, Ball State U.  ;)

And yes, I couldn’t resist keeping a couple of our mice from the fall stairs up there. Stink Eye Sis gave me some major stink for keeping them up so long, but I L.O.V.E. them.

I Christmasified the mice a bit:

    

Are you kidding me? Adorable. Aren’t there Christmas mice? Or am I making that up in my head and a wild attempt to explain my Halloween mice on my Christmas stairs?

Whatever. I think they are the cauuutest!!:

I was done, but then walked by a pile of sparkly snowflake ornaments I had in a pile to go the basement.

I thought a punch of red would be fun on the picture wall, so I used mounting squares from True Value (those little jobbies are how I attach my mice to the risers too) and attached them to the backs:

I just placed them here and there in the frames on the wall:

They add the perfect sparkly pop!

And yet again, I’m so glad I ripped that carpet off the stairs:

I can’t believe the difference from last year – the night shot before the ripping of the carpet:

And now:

Wow, the new camera sure doesn’t hurt. :)

And after all that, we’re left with a really cute Charlie Brown Christmas tree:

Or something. :)

I think that’s the last of the Christmas decor around here – but I do have a couple more things I want to show you. You know…inspiration for next year.  ;)

Are you done shopping? I’m half way there…and not ONE gift is wrapped. Wish me luck.

 

*I was one of the bloggers selected by True Value to work on the DIY Squad. I have been compensated for my time commitment to the program as well as my writing about my experience. I have also been compensated for the materials needed for my DIY project. However, my opinions are entirely my own and I have not been paid to publish positive comments.*

Thank you to my sponsor!:

Falling up the stairs

Last year, I was itchin’ to tackle a certain project for MONTHS. In fact, I researched it for quite some time – and in January I finally got up the courage and went after it…and I’m SO glad I did. :)

That project was ripping the carpet off of our stairs and staining/painting the wood underneath. Hands down my favorite transformation in our house. Because we were lucky and had beautiful treads under that carpet, the whole project only cost $30 – the investment (like usual) was in my blood and sweat:

Like I said, I had been dreaming about the wood stairs for quite a while. So long that I bought the Martha Stewart mice silhouettes on clearance last fall, knowing I would use them on the steps someday. I was SO excited to pull them out of the fall stash this year! Yippeeee!

I knew I wanted to add a little somethin’ extra along with the little mice, so I used some random magazine photos as inspiration and decided to do an arrangement of itty bitty pumpkins along the side of the steps:

Because I’ve spent so little on fall decor this year, I splurged on real pumpkins. For a little extra PADOW, I added a little votive holder to each step as well:

Don’t worry – there’s no flame. :) I only use the LED votives anymore, and these are two for a buck at Dollar Tree. LOVE THEM. They even have the little flicker and look so real.

Do you see how the pie pumpkins are positively glowing? I used Stephanie Lynn’s technique for preserving pumpkins (petroleum jelly) and they are GORG!!

The Bub and I arranged our mice here and there along the risers and let. me. tell. you. – they are stinking CUTE!!:

This is the only time of year I can stand spiders and mice. :)

A couple of months ago, I showed you how I finished off the stair redo by adding the detail along the side of the staircase using mdf:

After that post, my friend Layla, being the brilliant mind that she is, (a brilliant mind with Photoshop), sent me a picture with a potential change to the staircase – one I was considering for awhile, so it was AWESOME to see how it would look:

It was subtle – just changing the color of the railing. She also changed the brass fixtures to a brushed nickel, which looked so sharp!

It totally pays to have friends with Photoshop. :)

I’ve been meaning to make this little change since, but it was only when I starting falling up the stairs that I decided to just do it already, and I’m SO glad I did!!:

I sprayed the hardware in oil rubbed bronze, to work with the rest of the house. (I just took them off, sprayed with primer, then the ORB.)

The handrail got a quick sanding, then two coats of brown paint, leftover from our dining room walls. I put a coat of poly on top and plan to add one more.

I don’t know what took me so long to make the change – the dark color looks fantastic!:

A reminder of how it looked before, with the white rail:

Notice the difference in the picture quality too? ;) I LOVE my new camera!!

Pretty crazy how the color matches exactly what Layla suggested too!:

The pumpkins fit perfectly into that space under the handrail – we haven’t had any issues with them in the way at all. Now let’s just hope they hang in there a couple more months, when the Christmas decor will come out. (OH the possibilities!!)

I love how our staircase has turned into another space I get to decorate! :)

Tired of seeing my stairs yet? (Don’t answer that.)

Adorable. I big fat love ya Martha.

Especially at half off.  :)

**Be sure to check out all of the inspiration at the Before and After Party!

**I got my mice from Michaels, but here’s a link on how to do them on your own!

(Adding this to Susan’s Met Monday!)

Thank you to this week’s sponsor!:

The staircase is done! (Again.)

Well hello!! I hope you had a GREAT weekend!

I’m starting to get my project mojo back – I’ve been highly unmotivated this summer. Well, unmotivated to do any painting, sawing, crafting or cleaning. Highly motivated to nap. ;)

But as fall approaches (what is that high pitched squeal? OH yeah, that’s me.) I’m getting the urge to get more done around the house. I thought it was about time I finished up the stairway redo that I started…oh….SIX MONTHS ago.

I’ve been wanting to add molding up the staircase for all that time. My original plan was to continue the skinny molding I installed throughout the foyer, but that stuff was going to be a total pain to work with – long story, but it isn’t symmetrical. So to make the correct cuts, I was going to have to make a jig for the saw and blah blah yadda yadda. You don’t want to know.

So I sat on it for months. Then I saw some new inspiration in a magazine – a different idea -- and wondered if it may be easier to install. Turns out it was. ;)

I didn’t take pictures as I went (bad blogger!!) but I recreated how I went through the process. My inspiration picture used a board and batten type technique, so I went to the hardware store looking for thick slats of wood to use – but everything I found was either too skinny or too expensive. Then I remembered the brilliant idea The Nester had, and I strolled over to the sheets of mdf.

Brilliant I tell you. I had an eight by four foot sheet of mdf cut down into 3.5 wide pieces (eight feet long each). To figure out the angle of the cuts I needed, I held a piece up to the wall and marked the angle of the handrail on the wood:

I marked a line from end to end to get the angle I needed:

Then put it on my miter saw to figure out the degree of the cut. It turned out to be 40 degrees, and low and behold, that cut ended up working for every single angle I needed:

 

It was SO easy, because the planks were flat and symmetrical so I could use it any way I needed to! Does that make sense? I could flip it every which way and it still worked.

I nailed up the sides first then added the top portions. The middle pieces (that created the “boxes”) went up last. This is what I ended up with:

LURVE. :)

Then, because I consistently ignore my own advice, I had to paint everything after the fact. Which is a total pain in the booty. TOTAL. Argh! I will never learn! From myself. Huh.

Anyway, because I am one of the True Value DIY Blog Squad members (yippeee!), I took my merry little self over to a local store and got some new painting supplies.

Purdy brushes are not cheap, but they are the best, in my opinion. I absolutely love them! I used my angled brush to do a coat of primer and two coats of semi-gloss on the edges of the mdf:

I found a super cool roller at True Value that I had to try out:

Gotta love that Made in the USA! :)

You can angle it in all kinds of directions:

 

How cool is that? It worked perfectly to paint all of the molding!

And yet again, the fact that I didn’t paint before installing came back to haunt me. (Curses!) The top edge of the mdf butted up against the handrail molding, was still unpainted and you could totally tell:

 

I. tell. you. what. Such a pain! Thankfully True Value had a small craft section (yes, crafts! I think I’m in love!), so I picked up some brushes and used one to cram some paint in there:

The cramming worked. Sheesh.

And finally, it was finally time to poly those steps. I went back and forth for months on whether or not I would do it, because I was worried it would make them slippery. I figured I would try one coat and see how it went.

I grabbed some semi gloss polyurethane on my shopping trip:

(You want to stir poly slowly – never shake!)

I always use a foam brush to apply poly and it works like a charm! Here’s the difference it made on the steps (top step with poly, bottom without):

Loverly!! Poly makes the wood so much richer and beautiful – and it has NOT made them slippery at all! I only did one coat, so that probably helps. I still swear the wood steps are less slippery than the carpeted stairs.

I absolutely, positively LOVE how it turned out!!:

I continue to only get craptastic quality pictures of these stairs. Not sure why. But you get the gist. :)

It’s not perfect. Not many of my projects are:

This is why the DIY Gods created caulk and putty.  ;)

I really adore how it turned out! It makes the whole staircase look finished off:

The wall going up the stairs is my favorite wall in the house:

Can you tell why? ;)

All I have to do now is get rid of the brass:

I know they’re small. But they’re mighty. Mighty brassy. And shiny. :) I don’t know if I’ll tape them off, cover everything and spray paint the buggers, or just replace them.

Either way, their days are numbered. Buwahahahahahaaaaaa…

Now, to decide if I’ll continue this treatment up the other side of the stairs:

I’d have to take down the small molding I have up there, and I don’t know if it would even work with the big squares on the back wall.

For now, it will stay as is. :)

Let’s look back, shall we? This is the before, from last Christmas:

The in between from earlier this year:

  And the I’M DONE!! (for now):

The best part? All of the mdf only cost $23! That’s IT! Whoo!

Oh I lurve it. And now I can focus on other things.

Like decorating for fall.

What’s that? Hummmm? It’s still August? Whatever.

:)

To see how I transformed our stairs, go here.

*I was one of the bloggers selected by True Value to work on the DIY Squad. I have been compensated for my time commitment to the program as well as my writing about my experience. I have also been compensated for the materials needed for my DIY project. However, my opinions are entirely my own and I have not been paid to publish positive comments.*

Thank you to my latest advertiser!: