Betcha didn't see this one coming....

I sure did not! We started with just refinishing the floor... and now we are here. Chaos. I have no regrets about it, especially after we found out what was behind the walls! So we are gutting the upstairs, re-insulating (with something a little more efficient then hamster shavings), re-doing the electrical (so I can have the wires behind the walls, instead along the baseboards), putting in a vapor barrier, dry walling, painting, staining and vanishing the floors.... and I really want to save the baseboards, because they are a big reason of why I fell in love with our house... so I will be adding restoring baseboards to the list. It's a big list. But just wait until it is done!
Time line for this project is a complete guess right now. But we just starting taking down the plaster on Saturday and we are about half done after working on it this evening. Any guesses on when the last baseboard will be put up? I'm going to put an optimistic April 7th as my guess.

Sawdust up my nose!

I feel like I have sawdust everywhere. We have started on the great mission that is refinishing our floors. We rented one of those big sanding machines and it got off a pretty good layer. Now we need to do the right beside the wall, which is about 4 mm higher then the rest of the floors, and a the spots the big machine did not get too.This is the hallway, it has just has the big sander. You can see here what I mean of the the edges needing more sanding.
And this room is done sanding! Yeah!

It's Out!

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So, my blending in decorations did not last very long. I had to take the little skeletons down after Halloween, which left my chandelier a little bare. I bought the snowflake garland at dollaramma and the pine cones were my last year's Christmas craft.
On the table I still have my painted gourds... they are still there as a statement of November being a transitioning month (and I love them I can't bare to throw them out). Mixed in with the guards I have snowflakes, my trees (from last year as well), candles and my new purchase, my reindeer. He is only 5$ at Super store, so run out an get one! (They also have a lying down one, which is on my list of must haves.)

It's Plus 11 Here... and I'm Puttin Up Christmas Ornaments!

The temperature is very abnormal for Winnipeg at this time of year. I am in no way complaining, but usually we have full blown snow on the streets by now. But snow or no snow I started putting up Christmas decorations! I know it is a little early, so I have been trying to make them blend in with my other decorations. I am so excited for the season!

A Butterfly Display

I made these record butterflies months ago, but never displayed them. Now that Halloween is over and I have to cover up the headless horseman painting, I decided to finally display them. I think I got a little too excited with color. I think a neutral color would have done the display more justice. That is the benefits of foresight I guess.

Upstairs Bathroom Reno Plans

I don't know how much I'll stick to this plan... but as of right now, this moment, this is my idea for our upstairs bathroom. I am a little nervous about the flooring. We are thinking of tiling or getting laminate flooring.
I really want to transform an old desk or dresser into a sink vanity. I think this would look stunning and be super cheap if I can find a good one on kijiji. (The one in the picture is from kijiji for 250$) I have been looking for a white rectangular vessel sink to sit atop the vanity.
The color scheme I got from my four mismatched towels. Taupe, mustard and brown. I want to paint a design on the curved wall, I don't know if diamonds will be the answer, but I like the kind of circus mystique they add to the room.

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween all! Here's some Halloween food ideas we, me and my mom, tried out this year....

Sugar cookies with red icing and an almond for a finger nail
Witch hat cookie


Poop cupcakes... surprisingly we had lots of these left over :)

Double Double Toil and Trouble!

I want to put out all my Halloween ideas before Halloween, so I'm doing a double post today!
This is my "Pick Your Poison" Table. I had so much fun doing it. I painted 5 gourds, three black and two white. Super easy to do, I varnish the black ones. I also made new labels for the drinks... the bottle are empty now... but you can imagine them full. I'll post some of the labels too, if you want to print them off. I have this amazing plan for our punch... I'll post pictures after the party.

Save Me!

Just a few more photos of our Halloween decorations. Because we are renovating the house we had a little fun with the fact that things are going to be changing. We put red paint marks all over our walls, since we are taking down the wallpaper, and I was going to throw out the curtains, but then my husband offered to shread them up instead. The doll is this porcline doll that I have been trying to get rid of forever, but no one wanted it... so now she is one of my favorite decorations!

Witch's Ingrediants

I love Halloween... I think our family has almost the same amount of traditions for Halloween as we do for Christmas. Anyway, this year we are having a Halloween party! I have been having lots of fun decorating for it.My favorite decoration has been my witches ingredients. I collected jars and made labels for them. I used tea to age the labels. I had so much fun with this project. A few of the jars are still empty... I am planning to put canned lychee nuts in the large round container and I have rotten roma tomatoes for my 'rat's heart' container. (New photo's added above!)

Upstairs Update

Sometimes it feels like things are moving so slowly, but then I have to remind myself we have not even been this house for two months yet! But still, for some reason, I feel like our upstairs floors should be done by now.... but regardless, we are moving forwards.
Originally we weren't planning on doing the floors in the upstairs bathroom, but it has been added into the mix. We are actually getting pretty pumped about it. We took out the sink, toilet and tub and removed the three layers of tiling. Let me just say that tub was heeeaaavy! It was a marital stability test to move it, but we did it! The floors underneath have water damage and a few unoriginal floor boards... so our plan is to use the boards from the small room (the one I really want to make into an ensuite bathroom) to replace the damaged and unoriginal boards. I plan to paint the whole bathroom... colors are still be decided, and the tub. The toilet is going back in but we want to do a new sink and table for the sink.
Anyway... here are some progress photos:

Bye Bye "Magic Eye" Wallpaper!

Remember magic eye pictures? They were picture with a small repeating pattern that you were to look at closely and then your eyes would bug out and you would see a mystery shape. ... anyway, this is pretty much the effect my dinning room wallpaper causes. The paper has been coming down relatively easily, especially since there are four layers of it. Anyway, I can't wait to paint the walls... something calming and easy on the eyes.

Stress Relief Pillows

My pillows don't actually have any magical stress relieving powers, but making them definitely helped relieve some stress. I have been pretty bogged down with school work so making these has been an escape for me. I love the doily pillow! It's my favorite.

I HEART COUCH! (My couch anyway)

I recovered my couch at long last! And I love it! My livingroom is so mis-matched right now... and this was one big step in the right direction.

She Had Dumps Like A Truck

"She had dumps like a truck... truck... truck" Do you remember the Thong Song? I never really understood those lyrics until we moved into our home. Sisco was obviously singing about our house. It has been a full time job removing junk from this house. There are little mirrors and gadgets nailed to all the walls, musty carpets, the basement was filled with old cabinets, paint cans, and ... well junk. We have started trying to burn all the wood items to avoid more trips to the dump. But, on the plus side, I think this job is almost over and we have found a few treasures too, but here is a little look at our unexpected chore:

Kitchen Paint Job

My mini kitchen reno consisted of paint, new drawer knobs and hinges. I am still working on taking down the layers of wallpaper, so try to ignore the floral picture dictionary on the walls.
I laid out my plans for this kitchen in an old post. (see here) I think the final product is pretty close to my original ideas. This is the before picture: