FIX IT UP FRIDAY

My mom and dad were so gracious to take Morgan overnight for a sleepover on Monday and then keep her all day Tuesday so I could work on stuff around the house that I just never get around to with a tot running around. I had a major list of things I wanted to accomplish, and of course didn't get to it all, but I did get a lot done nonetheless. With our playroom in the basement basically finished now (more pics on that later), I am trying to get stuff organized to move a lot of Morgan's stuff down there.

I started off with this cheap laminate toybox that I had from when I was teaching that I paid like 1.00 for at a garage sale. Jared helped me "sturdy it up" a bit with some new screws and hinges, and I researched how to paint laminate, so here was my first attempt at a "bigger" piece of furniture.

I first sanded it lightly with a fun tool that Jared bought with his birthday money. It's SOOOO cool! There's no way I would tackle furniture if I had to sand by hand ever again!

Then I primed it with an oil based spray primer Jared had leftover from something. But I ran out and had to use a bit of latex primer that said it was for glossy surfaces.....Zinsser Bullseye 123, but I didn't like it as well, and it takes longer to "cure." I didn't get a picture of the primed toybox all done, but it is sitting in my basement waiting for the 7 days so I can paint it white. I am going to use the same white semi-gloss that Jared used for the trimwork in the basement.

My next project was this bulletin board. The cheapo looking brown was bugging me, so I decided to give it a quick painting. I first taped a bunch of junk paper all over the board part so as not to get black all over it.

Then, I sprayed one layer of Walmart gray primer, waited 10 minutes, then sprayed it with a couple layers of Walmart black flat spray paint. I didn't worry about high quality paint on this. Quick and easy!

I'm still thinking it needs something else, though.... Maybe some fun fabric covering the bulletin board part...or burlap? Or maybe adding a thin black trim piece around the edges to "beef it up" a bit? Who knows. We'll see.

Then, since I had my paint out, I quickly sprayed this little basket with the same Walmart paint. Just a couple quick black flat layers (no primer) about 10 minutes apart. Again, a quick last minute project. I had used the basket at school, and it has a fun bright colored lining that my mother-in-law made for it that will look great in her playroom. (You can kinda see it in the background.)

Remember these frames that I painted awhile back? I hadn't hung them yet, because Jared doesn't really "trust" me with a hammer and nail. But I found some 3M Command Picture Hanging Strips (thanks to a recommendation from a great blog called House of Smiths) and decided to give them a try. At first I couldn't get it to work, then I reread the directions and ....wallah! No nails, and so far they haven't fallen down.

Well, in addition to all that, I cleaned all the bathrooms, vacuumed the whole house, changed the sheets on my bed and did laundry, and organized all Morgan's toys. I dragged every toy that she owns into the living room and grabbed 6 tubs and a box. Then, I sorted out all the toys that are too young for her now and put them in a box for storage. Then, with the tubs, I divided up all her toys between "Bedroom," "Living Room," and "Playroom/Basement." I also made a second tub for each location that I can use to rotate out the toys in each spot every month. This process took me about 2.5 hours, and is something I could NOT have done had Morgan been around.

Hopefully next week I can show you my finished toybox, and some pictures of how the playroom is progressing. Yea!