Concrete Bench

My mom rocks.

My mom is awesome.

My mom is gorgeous/talented/strong/handy/smart/insert adjective here.

My mom is my best friend.

She never lets me down....actually...she always pulls through for me.

I bring this up, because my mom scored this for me, for free!

Okay, this picture would look a lot better if I had pulled all the rampant weeds, pulled the mulch over the concrete footings, etc. but I was so excited to show you!

And no...that's not one of those cute little decorative garden benches! That's a full sized (heavier than heck) bench!

You can't find a concrete bench like this for less than $400!

We have finally stepped over "the threshold" for weather here in the U.P.  I really can't get a whole lot of building done any more, unfortunately. The days are usually in the low to mid 60s. Not great for painting.

:(

BUT...I want to show you what I'm envisioning for this cute bench.

Perhaps a cute arbor like this surrounding the bench:

Except it would also have a back panel on it. I love the white architecture!

And maybe I would plant some nice climbing roses to sprawl all over it!

Wouldn't that be lovely?

Did I mention yet that my mom rocks?

Anyways, if you love The Lettered Cottage, you'll love what I've got "cooking" for you coming up soon!

Great News on top of Great News!

Can you tell that I'm having a great day?

You know my carpet glue problem?

Well, today I think I have busted through that problem. Let me explain:

1. Goo Gone = does nothing. nadda. zip.

2. Goof Off = does nothing to the glue, but turns the paint into a gummy mess as well. Double gummy! Ahhh!

3. Industrial strength adhesive remover = same as Goof Off. See above.

4. Paint stripper = same as # 2&3

5. Sand paper = works, but EXTREMELY tedious, and not worth the cost in paper.

6. Ever SoniCrafter attachment known to man = still using it! (Will explain in a second...)

7. Mineral Spirits = I may as well have spit on the stairs to clean it. It would have done a better job...

8. Steamers = a really HOT gummy mess.

My in-laws came over the day of my frustration. My mother-in-law suggested Krud Kutter.

I was very skeptical.

In my head, "All this heavy duty stuff didn't work, and you think a household cleaner would?"

It did....

Haha, isn't that great?

How To Get Carpet Glue Off:

1. Scrape as much carpet backing/glue off as you can. This is easiest done with the scraper tool on the SoniCrafter. Using a regular scraper will take you hours what the SoniCrafter can do in seconds. This is a great investment!

2. Spray a liberal amount of Krud Kutter on the glue. Let sit for about 10 minutes.

3. Wipe away (I've been wiping with a paper towel! It's that amazing!)

4. If any residue is left, repeat steps 2 & 3.

Some spots are more difficult than others, so you may want to get a good scrubber as well. The trick is to scrape away so much that only residue is left by the time you use Krud Kutter. You also have to use a lot, so don't expect to buy only 1 bottle for a large area such as mine!

 

With any luck, I will be done with these stairs soon!

Stay tuned, because I have something awesome/amazing/FREE to show you!

Wishful Thinking

I know I told you that I might be redoing a piece of furniture. Unfortunately, on my only day off, the weather is not cooperating. Ideally, it should be over 65 degrees outside to spray paint. It only hit 62.

I know, I know, 3 degrees shouldn't make a big deal, but when it comes to a big piece of furniture, I know that trying to fix any mistakes will be uber time consuming.

So I'm putting it off for another day. I have a string of days in the 70s coming up, so hopefully I can sneak a quick painting in.

Anyways, not one to let a perfectly good day off go to waste, I've been working on something else.

These were my stairs leading to the basement (we have a partially finished basement):

You don't need to say it.

It's ugly.

Ugly carpet.

Ugly (dark) paint.

My husband tried making the finished room of the basement his "man cave."

I told him that if he was going to have a man cave, he needed to do all the work to make one.

He gave up. He's the one that decided to paint the room that awful dark blue with powder blue trim. I hope you didn't think that was my taste!

I started ripping up the carpet, and to my horror, every single $%&*%#@ inch of that carpet was glued down.

I..hate..carpet..glue.

In case you don't fully understand:

I HATE CARPET GLUE.

Nothing gets it off easily.

Nothing gets it off semi-easily.

Now, instead of a gross musty carpet on the stairs, I have a sticky residue on them.

(Which means that I have sticky crap on my feet, shoes, pants, etc.)

I have been working tirelessly for 2 days, but I've only managed to get 1 1/2 stairs done. There are 11 stairs total....

Things I've Tried

1. Goo Gone

2. Goof Off

3. Industrial strength adhesive remover.

4. Paint stripper

5. Sand paper

6. Every SoniCrafter attachment known to man

7. Mineral Spirits

The only thing that seems to work is the sand paper, but it takes an entire sheet for just 1 square foot. I would end up spending $100 just on sand paper....

It may take me an entire month to finish these stairs. I probably won't get many more projects done, but I will definitely be giving you updates/sneak peeks!

I'm envisioning white stairs, a white railing...

...and a softer wall color like this...

...or maybe this.

Does anyone have any suggestions on getting carpet glue off?

I've heard something about boiling water, but I'm not about to dump a pot of boiling water on wood stairs in a basement. That's just asking for trouble...

Any help would be appreciated!

Featured & Some Family Photos

 Yay! My trunk restoration was featured over at Someday Crafts. That makes my mediocre Wednesday much better.=D I also picked up some family photos while visiting my grandma tonight. The crafty man behind my trunk: Henry Reis 

And in 1960, a year before he died.

My grandma said that his "cheapness" drove my great-grandmother crazy.

Don't we call it "being thrifty" now?

I'm proud of it!

Now I just have to find a set of frames worthy of such awesome vintage photos.

(sigh) I love vintage photos....

A Family Treasure

Has anyone seen this at Restoration Hardware for $1,695....

...or this one from Pottery Barn for 1,299?

Using vintage (or vintage-looking) trunks as coffee tables seems to be the new "it."

My grandma reads as many home decorating magazines as I do. She called me one day and said that she saw a picture of a trunk coffee table in a magazine, and she also had a trunk in her basement. She was wondering if I wanted it.

Of. course. I. do!

When I went to her house, this is what met me:

An old, ugly, painted trunk that's lid didn't fit properly...

...with 100 year old fabric nailed to the top.

I can't even describe to you the smell this trunk was emitting....

Upon further inspection, however, I noticed the potential beauty this old trunk had.

Those are hand-cut decorative L-brackets.

I was swooning.

This was my great-grandfather Reis's trunk. I had never met him. I've heard many stories of him.

He came to the States from Russia in the early 1900's. He made this trunk, and it held everything near and dear to him on his journey.

....hey....maybe that's where I get my skills from...

;)

Do you see why I was so excited about this restoration project?

After 2 days of stripping paint, fixing the old hinges, removing rust off metal, trying to get that 100 year old musty smell out, and putting 5 (yes...5) coats of polyurethane on, I finally had my coffee table.

It goes great with the rest of the living room.

It now holds board games. The kids can just pop open the trunk and get some impromptu gaming on!

I am in love with the little details. Who knew such beauty could have been covered up by all that paint?

My grandma couldn't believe that was the same trunk. She was so proud of me for restoring her dad's trunk.

I will soon be stopping by her house to pick up a picture of her dad. She wrote all the facts about where he had lived in Russia, what year he came to the States, when he was married to my great-grandma, etc. on the back.

It's so nice to have such a functional family treasure in the house.

<3

Cost: about $15 of spray paint-stripper. I already had the polyurethane.

It might be a while until my next project post. My husband is going back to school on Thursday, and we are desperately trying to clean out the basement while we still have time at home. The finished part of the basement will be my new craft room. Yay! We have been doing small projects (like moving furniture), but nothing worth posting. I might have a furniture re-do to show you. I might do it on Saturday. I don't work, and there's no classes because of Labor Day, so as long as the weather holds up, I will get that done!

I will try to throw some recipes out there so that you don't get bored with me!

;)