Hide Ja Wife…

hide ja kids, and hide ja modem. 

Back when we installed the shelving along one side of our fireplace, I had grand plans of keeping it functional on top of the form.  We needed another place to keep some of our books and so it does, but we also needed a place to keep our internet modem and wireless router.  The bottom shelf was were I wanted those to go.  But, as you can tell, modems and routers don’t really contribute much to aesthetics.

But thank goodness for Pinterest because a long time ago I pinned this idea from Sewing Barefoot and then much later, thrifted the books you see on the far right for the very purpose of that camoflage project.


When I took the pictures for the shelving project post, the modem and router were nestled ever so hastily behind a white basket to hide them from view.

But now, I’ll let you take a gander and guess as to where they might be.

Ok, so I might’ve made that easy for you since I gave away the books but hey!  Out of sight and so much better, right?!  :)

I started this project last weekend while I was visiting my sister and finished once I got home.  It really stinks that it took me so long to finally get it done.  I thought it would require more time and effort than it really did.  Twenty minutes all-in-all was all it cost me and every second of that was worth the better view.

So, want to make your very own modem hide-out?  It’s perfect for hiding just about anything you can fit behind a few books, even secret levers that open up a secret room…if you’re into that kind of thing.  ;)

Here’s how:

First, grab your supplies.  You’ll need a box of some sort to hold whatever it is you’re wanting to hide, several books that, when placed together, span the entire width of that box (you’ll be cutting them apart so don’t use anything you’re planning on reading anytime soon), a razor blade or scissors, a hot glue gun, and glue sticks.
I found all of these books at a local thrift store last year for 75 cents each and used a regular ‘ole cardboard box that I cut two sides off of to hold the modem and router.

Next, grab your razor blade and any pent up anger because it’s time to rip apart some books.

What you’ll want to do is open the front cover of each book and cut out the middle.  Be careful to only cut out the inside of the book and not to press so hard that you cut through the binding. 

Repeat the same step with the back cover of the book.

Funny story:  I noticed upon going in to cut apart one of my books that, not only was it gifted to someone but it was also signed by the author on the very first page.  #whoops
Must not’ve been that important if it was donated to a thrift store but still, I felt a little rebellious taking it apart.

After all the insides of the books are gone, decide how you want the books to be lined up.

Once you’ve got your layout (make sure all your books are right-side-up too!), it’s time to shorten all of the covers except for the two on each end.


To do this, I laid each book out flat and held a ruler up against the binding while I cut.
This gave me a straight line to run the razor along and helped ensure that each book would be shortened the same amount.  (PS, use a cutting board lest you want to cut into whatever solid surface you’re working on.  I used a book I had decided not to use…you can’t see it, but it’s there.)

Now it’s time to glue all of your (what were) books together in the order you had planned.  I just ran a small line of hot glue down the cover stubs and attached each book to its neighbor.

After all the books were glued together, I glued the front cover of the farthest book on the left to the left side of the box.  Then I glued all of the books to the box by running a line of glue horizontally along the middle of the side of the box that’d be up against the cover stubs and then placing each stub into the line of glue.  The important part here is to make sure that the stubs are straight when they hit the glue; make sure they are at a 90 degree angle with the box.

When I had the basic structure of my hideaway finished, I had a small gap between the back cover of the farthest book on the right and the box.  Not a huge deal and one that could’ve been left as-is, but just because, I made a little spacer by gluing together a few layers of cardboard and then glued that into my gap.
Nice and sturdy does it.

Up at at ‘em it went with our modem and router tucked nicely behind.
 
I know I said originally that my plan was to house the hidden modem and router on the bottom shelf, but when I tried that, the cords coming out the back of each made the whole book hideaway stick too far off the end of the shelf.  Boo.  So, for now and maybe forever, it sits on top of our blu-ray player.  I’m still not sure if I’d rather just brainstorm another way to get it back on the shelf or not but for now, it’s hidden and that’s all that matters.  I did flank it with two other books on each end to further hide the wires that extended out the back though.  Had I a bigger space, I probably would’ve made this thing with some larger books.  Keep that in mind when you’re making your own.  The covers on the two books on each end should extend or be longer than whatever you’re trying to hide, wires included.


And speaking of hiding things, we finally got around to figuring out how to fanagle all the wires coming from the electronics over the fireplace into our mantel’s side panel.  Remember when Chelsea and I built our new mantel and how she helped me make happen the hidden panel I wanted for that sole purpose?

Well, here it is exposed with the lone two wires that need to run down it to reach the outlet below:
One of them is the main cable wire and the other goes to a power strip that sits right on top of the big bracket that holds the TV on the wall, to which everything is plugged in.  Every mantel ever should have a hidden panel, that’s what I say.

I’ve also been busy restyling/adding to those shelves and hanging up those three big frames to fill up the big expanse of wall.
The picture doesn’t make it look as good as it does in person.  I’m still working on how to get this whole space into one photographic rectangle. 

Those frames are oldies and still filled with the same floral calendar prints I framed ages ago.  I’m hoping to get a family picture up into them that’s one big picture spread through and filling the three frames.  It’s gonna be sa-weet…whenever it happens.  The only new things on the shelves are the plants – the top right a thrift score (fake) and everything else clipped from out my front or back door.  The ampersand was a $2 thrift find that I had planned to spray paint gold.  It once looked like this:
This is right before I primed the entire thing white.  When I went out to give it the gold coat, I stopped after spraying from just one angle and loved how it looked so I just quit.  I kinda love it.

And that’s that…all starting with our new and improved living room shelves complete with a modem you’d never know was there if you didn’t know because I just told ya.  If you make your very own modem-hider, I’d love to see it and add it to this post!  Email a picture to me – beaninlove@gmail.com or tag me on Instagram (@beaninlove). 

Peace and love and all that jazz.

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Spotted: My Favorite Ever Thrift

Last weekend I drove to see my sister in Florida…just me and the fetus girl.  It was a spontaneous trip and a little babymoon for me before we are, once again, in the throes of having a newborn and I loved every minute of it except those first few minutes right after I left home.  I’ve never been away from all three of our kids for more than a couple of hours and it was SO. HARD. to leave.  I wanted to go so bad and I knew it would be so revitalizing but the thought of being without my little leeches for a few days was hard.  So weird, right?  I mean, there are days I think “man, I love you guys to the moon and back but I need a break!” and then that break comes and I get cold-feet and all sappy and emotional and I rethink my decision a thousand times and force myself to keep on driving when really all I want to do is turn around and forget about it.  Human beings are so complicated.

On the bright side, I have two sisters I love dearly and so getting to spend the weekend with one of them was just the best.  Farrah and I are Irish Twins – born 10 months apart.  Yep, 10 months.  I was born three weeks past my due date in February and at my mom’s 6-week post-partum visit they told her all the usual stuff and dropped the bomb that she was pregnant again (I’m guessing the whole routine urine test gave it away?)  Surprise!  Farrah was born two weeks early in December and so now for two months of every year we are the same age.  It’s as awesome as it sounds.  :)

We had lots of fun this past weekend doing things Irish Twins do – sewing, crafting, eating, relaxing, going on a 5-mile bike ride along the beach, and thrifting.  I didn’t really have a list of things I wanted to do while I was in her neck of the woods because all I really cared about was taking advantage of that little “break” I was on and spending time with her and her cute little family but I did make it a point to hit up my (our?) favorite thrift store.  We have to go everytime we visit her because it is hands-down thee best thrift store I’ve ever been to.  I don’t even know the name of it but we’ll just call it ‘My Favorite Ever Thrift’. 

Here’s what I spotted on this trip:

There are always a bundle of light fixtures when I go in - light fixtures I don’t need and that I have to convince myself to walk away from.  There were a few that caught my eye (and I actually did buy one that will be going up on our front porch one of these days) that had those great geometic lines I love and would’ve made great fixtures in a grand entry, over a dining room table, in a master bedroom, or used as a terrarium or decorative bowl.

This minty-green couch was something like $20 (50% off $40) and I wanted it.  Bad.  It needed it’s skirt removed to expose it’s beautiful legs underneath and to be set in a little girls’ room or a light and airy living room.  
This piece of art was really cool looking.  The colors got me at first.  With a white mat and light wood frame it could be the life of a room.
However, it was marked at $60 so that turned me away.  I didn’t do any research on the artist but my guess is that, at that price, maybe it was someone semi-well-known?

I thought this bamboo wine rack was cool:
With a coat of some bright paint color, it be the most fun your bottles of wine ever saw before they hit the recycling bin.

This fireplace set was gorgeous and in pristine condition.  Not to mention that the gold color was the most perfect champagne-gold.  I think it was around $10.  I would’ve snatched it up if our fireplace wasn’t gas.

These glass bottle toppers were all gorgeous.  There were about 30 of them in two baskets and I wanted a few so bad but had no clue what to do with them.  Now I think they’d be great just piled high in a glass jar on display.  If you wanted to be a little more aggressive, they’d probably make great knobs after a little trip to a glass store for a snip and the addition of a threaded rod and nut on the back. 

Cute little bamboo chairs get me every time:

And this wood bar stool was really cool too.  Set in the corner of a room with a cute little lumbar pillow or sheep-skin throw, it could hold its own.

More bamboo…
The color on this one wasn’t the greatest so it’d could definitely use a coat of paint but I liked the shapes on it.

And I’m still not sure how I feel about the curvy top of this one but in my head, I thought it’d be fun to paint and style all those shelves.

This was a cool little miniature rocking chair that could’ve used a punch of geometric fabric instead of that boring green.  I really comtemplated getting it because it was so different than your normal rocking chair…and then I pictured the fight over it and it tumbling over with a twin and…nope.

The best score of this trip:
Seven princess dresses – Belle, Snow White, two Aurora’s, Rosetta (from Tinkerbell…my girls are obsessed), Rapunzel, the Brave girl – and one white flower girl dress.  They were ONE DOLLAR each!  I know…take a minute and let that soak in.  A few of them needed a little TLC in the form of some hem and seam fixing but my sister and I did that in ten minutes one night while watching a movie.  Needless to say, my girls haven’t worn normal clothes since I’ve gotten home and I don’t see an end to that in sight. 

This chair was stylish and simple:
It needed a little bit of cleaning but it was microfiber so that would’ve been fairly easy.  I liked the straight edges and it was something like $40.  A little bit of nailhead trim might do it some good too.

Oh my gosh, this table:
Had it not had a sold sign on it I would’ve hard a really hard time walking out without it.  I would’ve figured out a way to somehow take it apart to fit in our little Corolla and take home with me.  Painted white?  A dream it would be with that gorgeous fretwork and my dining room’s first love.

This solid piece of butcher block was incredible:
Again, if I’d had the room, it’d be waiting to be installed as our bathroom countertop or on an island in our next house.  It was in excellent shape, the color was oh-so-good, and it was huge.  I loved the thin strips of wood too.  It had no price on it but it was probably worth every penny they were asking.

Last but not least, we found this faux leather jacket:
I couldn’t tell if it fit me well with this big ‘ole belly in the way so I selflessly let Farrah get it.  ;)  (Being selfless is super easy when you know she’d let you borrow it anytime so don’t worry, no holy points were gained over in this direction.  Ha!)

They have the best prices on clothes out of any thrift store I’ve ever been to and speaking of clothes, they had lots of great stuff but since my current state is stamped “pregnant”, I didn’t spend too much time sifting through those treasures.  I did very much regret grabbing a faux suede shift dress that I hemmed and hawed over though.  :( 

Anyway, it’s back to the old grindstone that I love and will probably never leave again (I’ll just take them with) so Happy Tuesday to you and yours!

Maternity Pants Refashion - Khaki-Style

That’s what Jake, from State Farm, is wearing and that’s what I’m here today with.

Although, I can pretty much guarantee you his look way better than mine:

Or at least way better than mine looked.  Mine might have a fighting chance in the fit arena now.

I snagged these Gap maternity khakis from Goodwill ($4) when I was pregnant with Sebastian and never got around to fixing them to fit me…until yesterday.  I was motivated to pull them out and take them to my sewing machine asap after last weekend, when I really had the worst time finding something that fit to wear to church.  It was partly because my brain wasn’t quite awake when I was scouring my maternity wardrobe, partly because all of my other church-appropriate maternity pants were in the dirty laundry and partly because, hello, this might be my last pregnancy so, better get on that stat.

I didn’t take pictures during the process because I used the same process I’ve used to slim down every other pair of pants I own that needed it (see here and here) but I did play dress-up so that in the coming days, I’d have some idea about what to pair with these “new” pants during those moments when “I have nothing to wear with themmmm!”

Just humor me.

And then, answer me this…are pregnant women even allowed to wear belts?…because the idea looked great in my head not to mention, I love belts so I’ve been going through a little bit of a withdrawl.  I tried it way back when and I liked it but this time it kinda looks like I’m wearing a woven support belt.  Maybe it’s because my jean vest might be a little too short to pair with a belly therefore exposing the entire belt when just the front would suffice?  Either way, here we have something I can sport on the daily:


This one’s my fave and it would’ve been perfect to prance around in on an Easter egg hunt with the tots:

For all my grocery store/Target runs:

And I don’t even know what the scene would be for this but this beaded top is one of my favorite (non-maternity) tops and I’m millimeters away from not being able to wear it anymore so I might have to indulge before that happens.  Plus, a blazer sounded fun.

And this is when a humongous, monster bug went flying by and for a split (terrifying) second, I thought it was inside the screened-in patio with me.  Self-timer didn’t miss my reaction and I’d be remiss to not include a blooper so…

May all the bugs always, always stay on the other side of that screen and may the rest of your day be glorious.

Amen.

.           .           .

Stenciled Concrete: Part II

Well, I don’t wanna make anyone jealous but, I’m currently sitting outside behind the protective screens of our not-completely-decorated but completely functional patio and it. is. awesome.  This atmosphere is going to make writing posts even more fun.  But anyway, while I’m looking at it, let’s get back on the stenciled concrete train and talk about how I painted the stencil onto our floors.  (In case you missed it, here’s how I made the stencil.)

With the floor all clean and sealed, l ran to Lowe’s and grabbed this porch and floor paint by Valspar. 
They had a bunch of different colors to choose from plus a few base cans you could get tinted so, since they didn’t have a plain white, I grabbed a tintable can and had the paint dude make me white.  I was a little nervous when he just told me “sure, I can make it white” right after I asked him if he could because I hadn’t had time to figure out which white I wanted nor did I have any swatches in hand.  But, I convinced myself in those two seconds that it would probably just be a neutral white and there was nothing to fear and to just get over it.  And all turned out ok and I saved myself loads of hemming and hawwing over which of the 105853 whites to get.

Home I went and during the next naptime, I got to work.  The supplies:
-the stencil
-my new paint in a small paint tray
-a small foam roller
-a measuring tape
-something to kneel on
-sticky tack
(Note:  Freshly painted toe and fingernails NOT recommended!  They will look scuffed and chipped after an hour of brushing up against the concrete.  Whoopsie.)

By using a foam roller instead of a thick fiber roller, I was able to paint on a thinner coat to achieve an imperfect, semi-worn look.  I didn’t want the stencil to look solid white but I wanted scratches that developed over time to blend in and look like they had always been there.

So, starting in the far corner of the room, I started stenciling away.  I used the dots on either side of the design to line up the stencil. (Note:  I realized a few stencils in that those dots weren’t evenly spaced, something I wish I would’ve noticed while making the stencil.  One was a little farther away from the design than the other.  Once I realized that, I continued by basically eye-balling the design, making sure it was centered, and using just one of the dots as a guide.  If you ever make this stencil, make sure you draw in your own large dots instead of tracing the ones already there like I did and make sure they’re spaced the same distance from the larger design.)

To secure the stencil to the floor so that it wouldn’t slide around as I painted, I grabbed some sticky tack and stuck it to the bottom two corners and the concrete.  I secured the stencil I used in the girls’ room to the wall the same way and it works like a charm; so much better than tape.
As I moved, I lifted the stencil with the sticky tack and restuck it to the concrete.  I wasn’t sure if it’d get stuck in the concrete or not but thankfully, it didn’t.

After I had stenciled the first row, I realized that the upper corners of the stencil were going to get in the way of the freshly painted stencil above.  So, I quickly grabbed the scissors and cut off the corners.
(I went back in after I was finished and the stencil was dry to stencil along the edges of that upper wall above too.  More on that farther down.)

I got about eight rows done during naptime that day (about 1 hour of time) and I was able to finish that one small slab (there are two slabs that make up our patio) after the kids woke up.  It was risky, painting while they were awake, but they listened so well and didn’t step in the paint but gave me a good audience and loved being able to play outside on the part I hadn’t gotten to yet.  Crisis averted and no face palms necessary.

Progress:

A little more progress:

I probaby could’ve gotten it done in half the time but I took a ton of breaks…haha!  My legs needed them!

As far as measuring goes, I tried to keep things as evenly spaced and straight as I could by eye-balling but occasionally, I broke out the measuring tape to measure the distance from the next stencil I painted to the wall.  Making sure each row was the same distance from the wall on both ends helped everything line up. 

This is what the first stage of stenciling looked like:

After I was done stenciling and everything was dry and able to be walked on, I went in with a paint brush around the edge of the room and free-hand painted the design so that it almost touched the wall.  I didn’t want a gap between the stencil and the wall.

Here you can see what a difference it made:
It wasn’t a huge deal to have the gap but it made it look better in my opinion and didn’t take long to do; maybe fifteen more minutes.

After extending the design all the way to the walls, I went back in with one of my favorite foam pouncers and added the small dots inbetween the design.
That part might sound tedious but it took me all of ten minutes.

I mentioned above that our patio was made up of two slabs; one must’ve been poured when the house was built and then the smaller added to expand later because they’re two different textures and one is a slightly lighter color.  The difference in the slabs was one reason I wanted to stencil the floor – I thought it would make them more cohesive.

Having two slabs though made it a little easier for me to stencil.  I did the smaller slab at the far end of the room first – first painting the stencil and then going back over it with two more coats of sealer.  After that small slab was done, we were able to move all the furniture from the other slab to it, making it so that we didn’t have to keep our furniture outside for a few days while I stenciled.

One problem I ran into was getting the stencil to line up in the end.  I had to stencil so that I ended at the french doors and didn’t back myself into a corner, unable to step on wet paint.  So, since I really wasn’t too strict with my measuring and had to skip over that entry area to stencil the opposite side of the room, things got a little wonky by the door.   It irked me a tad but I think we’ll put a rug down there anyway so hopefully it will go pretty unnoticed.

In case I lost you on my process, here’s a breakdown:
1.  Stencil the first slab.
2.  Go back in and extend the stencil to the wall once everything is dry.
3.  Add the small dots amongst the larger design.
4.  After all is dry, roll on two more coats of sealer, making sure the first is completely dry before adding the second.  (One coat would probably do too but we had sealer leftover so we figured we’d use it all up.)
5.  Repeat with the second slab.
(Obviously, if you’re just working with one slab, you’ll just stencil, extend, dot, and seal.)

And, a cost breakdown:
stencil:  83 cents (used a stencil blank I had leftover from stenciling this rug)
sealing/stenciling supplies:  $0 (already had the paint trays, rollers, and trim edge)
floor paint:  $15 (but there’s still 1/3 of the can left so…front porch?…Anthony says “I don’t think so.”)
sealer:  $20
grand total:  about $40 (add $10 if you had to buy everything I had on hand)

It’s kind of sad that we’re covering a big portion of all that tedious stenciling up with a rug but, we are.  I want the kids to be able to bring out their toys and play in comfort and overall, I think the rug just ups the cozy ante out here.  Here’s what the floor looks like right now:The rug was originally from Target (Threshold line), but I found it at Dirt Cheap.  It’s a natural fiber 8’ x 10’ and was a steal for $35 but a few of the edges are a little worn (like they had been drug along the floor for awhile somewhere) and they were a little dirty but I cleaned it right up after I brought it home and don’t mind the little wear.  I wanted something neutral on the floor in here so that I could play up the color wheel elsewhere, like on the chairs and sofa and with pillows and art and so this rug is perfect.
 
I cannot WAIT to finish up decorating this space but there’s much to be done before we call that finito – sanding down and either restaining or painting the furniture (all thrifted/handed-down!), recovering the furniture cushions, hanging string lights, hanging a big ‘ole piece of art on the wall (still just an idea…), setting down some big, potted plants, finding a shallow table for the wall near the french doors to hold party food (oh yes, there will be parties out here), whipping up some ottomans/stools, etc…, and then there’s lots of landscaping to be done on the other side of the screens too.
 

But, the main thing right now is that it’s functional.  Lady baby will get here before it’s functional and stylish, I’m sure, but at least she’ll be here to put in her two cents on decor when I do get around to finishing up.  “My swing can go here and I only want to be nursed in a striped chair”…things like that.  ;)

Now, who wants some lemonade?  The weather is fantastic and these Southern mosquitoes can’t get us so let’s toast to finally seeing something come to life that we’ve saved for for a couple of years.  I’ll detail exactly how much we had to squirrel away to make this entire room happen in a later post but for now, sit back, relax, put your feet up with me, and…zzz…  ;)