Deployment Homecoming Stress

I haven't posted because well I've been busy. I've been running a household with two young kids and recently we added a puppy which has increased my already high responsibilty level. My husband has been deployed for a long time and now that we're nearing the end I should feel relieved but I don't. I feel more stressed than ever.

Not necessarily stressed because he's coming home and there will be a transition period or because I'm worried about how being at war will affect him at home. I'm stressed because my husband, my partner in everything is coming home and while I want to spend his homecoming with him and our kids, there are people who feel as though it is important for them to welcome him home. I get it. He's been away deployed and everyone wants to see he him. It would be fine except we are a 13 hour drive or several states away from where we once called home. Our vistors would be out of towners and I don't want to entertain and I don't want to send my kids off with people to go see stuff so I can have "alone time" with my husband. I want to spend every waking moment soaking in as much time as I possibly can with him and our family because we will never be able to be together for those 8 months we spent apart. I want to do stuff as a family. And just in case you think I'm trying to dismiss "alone time" as though it holds no importance let me tell you that there is a reason our kids are in bed ASLEEP by 7:30 pm!

It sounds selfish. And maybe it is. But I deserve to have that time with my husband and our kids. He served our great nation, in a war zone and while we're trying to figure out how to transition two extreme roles back into a "normal" lifestyle, I don't need outsiders to take a front row seat. I understand that because my husband is military it takes us out of the "normal" category but look at it this way. When is the last time someone has wanted to welcome home someone eles's husband from a business trip? (Ahem, given that there wasn't a mistress of some sort! Yikes!) Even family at least waits a day or two before inviting them over for dinner. Hell, they might even just give him a call to see how his trip was. But to welcome him home and take away time from his family, it gets me wondering who the selfish ones are.

Then come the logistics of even pretending to entertain the idea of having guests. First of all, I'm not witholding his homecoming date! I have a window and then if I'm lucky I'll get a two day notice of when he will actually be home and then it will change 5 more times and he won't get in until hours after the final scheduled time. I may have an idea of when he'll be home HOWEVER, I can't tell you anything! It's operational security. I refuse to risk the lives of hundreds of militay because someone wants to know when he's going to be back on American soil. People have gone months in the past without seeing him with just a phone call here and there to keep in touch but now because he's been deployed all the sudden it's different, it's a big deal that they haven't seen him because they just can't live without him!

But me I'm just supposed to sit back and let everyone spend my time with the man I love all because we wears this countries uniform. I don't think so. The military may come first but family is next in line. So everyone who wants to see him can schedule a visit at a later date. We love you, but we love each other first.

Hide Cords with a Curtain (Tutorial)

My husband has this large entertainment center and it was obviously designed when big screen tvs were well GINORMOUS. The shelf that our little flat screen tv sits on is supposed to be a shelf that goes above the big screen but as times change we adapt and overcome. Yes, I really did just say that...

Here is the before.

The underneath has become toy storage. Those toys have since moved into little A & J's rooms, which is where they actually belong. But then you are still left with unsightly cords. Enter sewing machine and fabric.

Supplies: 

Home Decor Fabric large enough to cover open space plus several inches

General sewing supplies and machine

Shower curtain Rod

Instructions:

1. I don't wash my fabric. I know I probably should but for me it is easier to work with straight from the bolt. I used home decor fabric because it comes in a wider width and it is thicker and provides the texture I want in a curtain. 

2. Iron and cut the width of your fabric. Take the width of your space and add at least 6 inches. 2 inches will provide fabric to create an edge and the additional will allow the curtain to drape nicely. 

3. Hem the two cut edges. Use a ruler and iron to fold the fabric over 1/2 inch. Then fold the fabric over itself and pin. 

 

4. Sew. I used a blind hem stitch and white thread that didn't blend well with the pattern on the front. I should have used the blue color for it to blend nicely. Luckily it isn't noticeable when it is hanging. Sew both edges.

5. Decide which unsewn edge is going to be the top. Measure around the curtain rod to find out how wide your "pocket" will need to be for the rod to slide in easily. Add 1/2 inch just to be on the safe side. Measure that length from the top of your fabric and fold over. Iron and sew with 1/4 inch seam allowance. As you can see I left the selvage so I didn't have to do additional hemming.

6. Make sure the shower rod slides in easily.

7. Hang the shower rod and determine the length needed to reach the floor and add 1 inch. Using the same hemming technique as before. Measure 1/2 inch and iron. Fold the fabric over itself, pin and sew. 

8. Hang your finished curtain and enjoy not seeing cords! The space can be used for additional storage! 

Do you have unsightly cords in your home? What do you do to hide them?

Thanks for stopping by!

Creating,

Leilani

10 Need to Know Painting Tips

Now that I have painted two walls a very dark color I feel like I should compile a list of tips that made life easier. I learned quite a bit between painting the red wall (read about it here) and now painting a midnight blue wall. Now I'm no professional so take my advice with caution and make your own judgement.

1) The first is don't buy tape. It is a waste of money. Don't buy a brush to "cut in". Trust me. Unless you know how to cut in and are comfortable doing it, don't. Just don't. Instead spend the 5 to 10 dollars and buy yourself an edger, you can get one here. If you have textured walls you're screwed. It's just the way the cookie crumbles. But below is proof that an edger is worth it. Red wall is with tape and brush, blue wall is with edger and yes my walls are textured. If your walls are flat, the edger does awesome work.

2) Buy paint tray liners. They are less than a dollar a piece. Saves you an unbelievable amount of time with cleanup. You just painted a room, do you want to clean up, no. So just take the liner and throw it in the garbage. Voila.

3) Use Floetrol. It is a paint conditioner. I used it on the second coat. You just mix it in with the paint and it does not affect the color. It made the paint thicker and easier to work with, it also helped it dry evenly. I highly suggest it. Although it is not a complete necessity, I know I will never paint without it again.

4) Get yourself a kitchen sponge. It is easy to use for little oopsies here and there. Rinse and repeat.

5) I didn't use drop cloths while painting in a room with a hard floor. I let the paint dry and scratched it off. Or if I saw it in time I wiped it up with the sponge. However, when I paint the kids room I will be using an old sheet. Most of us have those lying around so why not use that instead of buying a drop cloth?

6) When painting a dark color do not try to see how far one roller dip in the paint will go. Dip your roller, do one roller width top to bottom and repeat. It might seem like you are using more paint than necessary however what you are doing is helping the paint coat the underneath color and saving yourself a third or fourth round of painting.

7) If you are painting RED, first paint the wall with one coat of gray. You still end up doing three total coats of paint (one gray, two red) but at least after the third coat it will look good. I did three coats of red over white and in some places it is still a little streaky. I couldn't bring myself to do a fourth coat, that is what wall decor is for!

8) If you are painting a dark color. Let the paint dry overnight before you do another coat. It allows the paint to fully dry so that when you do the second coat you aren't moistening the first layer and spreading nonsense everywhere. The paint also has a boatload of tint in it which I think may affect the drying process, the people at home depot weren't detailed about it but insisted that I wait overnight.

9) So you're waiting overnight for the second coat. Don't waste your roller! The guy at home depot told me to saran wrap it. I didn't have the patience for that nonsense. I put it in a doubled plastic bag, tied it up and stuck it in the fridge. Good as new the following day! Do the same with the edger!

10) If you have kids. Paint while they are sleeping. Save yourself the trouble of little hands wanting to "help".

Do you have a favorite painting tip or trick that isn't listed here? Leave a comment, I'd love to hear!

Thank you for stopping in!

Creating,
Leilani

Picture Frame Redo

I purchased these picture frames a while back when I thought they would be perfect for little J's room but as it turns out his favorite color is orange. I still love them but obviously they aren't going to go with my country warm feeling kind of theme. Time for a redo!

I had left over fabric after cutting out pillow covers from this post, and wanted to incorporate it around my home to give a little more cohesive feeling. I have a very open floor plan where my kitchen, dining, living and sitting area are all pretty much one ginormous room. I love how open it is, great for having people over!

All I did was take the frame apart, cut out the fabric to cover the lime green mat and then hot glued it on! Simple yet such a drastic change.

What do you think? Do you ever take items you have and do simple updates to change your decor?

Thanks for stopping in!

Creating,
Leilani

Easy Pillow Cover Instructions No Zipper

Last night I had a crazy dream. I was assisting on a live tv show featuring a segment on a specific quilt. Well the person who was supposed to be featured never showed so they threw someone else in there to do the segment and literally 1 minute before we were to go live she had a panic attack and insisted that she could not do it. I stepped in and had about 30 seconds to figure out how the quilt was made. It looked simple enough so I courageously started and then out of nowhere it wasn't just the quilt top, batting and bottom. There were extra components that I had no idea how to explain. Thankfully I woke up. No quilting tutorial here yet. So on to the pillow covers!

We purchased a ginormous sectional for our living room and it came with three 21" by 21" inch pillows. I love the size but not the geometric pattern. At some point in my life I'm sure I would have loved them, however, after realizing that every home that I've walked into and immediately fell in love with had a country warm feeling I knew they had to be changed.

The first step is finding a fabric you love. This pillow cover is a "pocket" cover, no zipper needed here. In this case I was working on the little blue pillow it was 14" by 14" so I cut one square 15" by 15". The second piece of fabric needs to be longer to allow for overlap for your pocket, cut a 15" by 20" rectangle. Then take the length that is 20" and cut it in half so you have two pieces of 15" by 10"".

You will need to hem the edges that overlap (the half pieces). Take the raw 15" edge and fold it to the inside half an inch, then fold it over again then sew down the strip. It helps if you iron the seam and pin. Do the same for the other piece.

Once both back pieces are sewn take your front piece and lay it right side up. Then place both back pieces on top of it with the right side down. The right side would be the one with the pattern or design. Make sure your back pieces overlap. Then square up the fabric. Pin all the way around and then sew around the edge with 1/4" seam allowance. Flip inside out and voila! 

It's amazing how much personality a pillow can add to a room! Not to mention that fabric is cheaper than going out and purchasing new pillows. Now to decide on fabric for the other two large pillows!

Thanks for stopping by!

Creating,

Leilani

How to Paint a Red Wall- Part 2

If you haven't read Part 1.... maybe you should. Did you read it? Good. Congratulations you have extraordinary taste! The only question is do you have the determination to make your wall the deep dark red or bold bright crimson red you are dreaming of?

I did or well I thought I did until I was debating on a 4th coat of paint. Yes I said 4th. My walls are a creamy color which aren't bad but I wanted some warmth to my home and my giant red wall gave me just that. I chose the largest wall in my home to paint red. Not so smart. The paint guy at home depot told me it should take two maybe three coats. Well, he was wrong.

Let me start by saying buy the BEST paint and primer that you can afford. I read some posts after already painting two coats that suggest that first painting your wall gray helps the red coat better. I would certainly take that in to consideration. I have a friend with a very gorgeous red wall. It took her two coats however she painted over green. Clearly I was doomed from the start.

So I taped off everything because I can't "cut in" with a paintbrush to save my life. Major Fail. My walls have a slight texture to them so even though I went over the tape and made sure it was stuck the wall, somehow paint still crept under it, EVERYWHERE. My friend with the awesome red wall suggested that I purchase a paint edger. It is a little pad with a handle and wheels that keep it an even distance from your molding, ceiling, trim, etc. I haven't tried it yet but I'll just take it from her that it works amazing. I'm kind of getting the feeling I should have asked her for advice before I started painting but hindsight is always 20/20.

So it took a gallon and a quart of paint. I used Glidden Paint and Primer the color is Martha Stewart Barn. On the third coat which was the quart plus a little from the gallon, I mixed about 3oz of Floetrol into the paint. It helped spread it more evenly before it dried. It dried darker than it appeared right after I painted it, thank goodness!

Below are the photos. The original wall color, followed by the first, second and third coat of paint. Finally, there is a picture with wall decor where you can see that it doesn't look too bad after all!

This wall is also EXTREMELY difficult to photograph because the light coming in glares on the wall and shines too bright for a good photo. I did the best I could.

Hope your red wall adventures are easier than mine were!

Creating,
Leilani

How to Paint a Red Wall- Part 1

Don't. Choose another color or hire a professional. 

If you're here because I required in Part 2 that you read Part 1 then you can bravely continue here.