Pace Family, TV Stand Revival Part 2

I am going all out on this TV stand.  It is the end of day 2 and I haven't even started painting yet.  So you can see I added a new solid wood top.  It was a piece of laminated pine.  Laminated as in planks glued together not as in layers like plywood.  I bought it this way from Home Depot, they even cut it for me.  Their saws are much better than my cheap home saw and it was a perfect cut.    

 I Added 2 pieces of 1/4 inch MDF to the inside space where the false drawer used to be.  There was already a piece of plywood in there originally but it was sagging and I don't feel like it could withstand being used as a shelf, plus it looked ugly.  This will all get painted the same white color as the outside.  I had to cut notches for it to fit like a puzzle pieces. It was fun. No really, not being sarcastic here.  I jump at any chance to use the band saw.

 The next step is to fill in all the dings it's received over the years (and a few by me) and get it all sanded and primed for painting.

Here is the inspiration piece for the paint colors.  It's basically white and neutral, but there is slight shade change.  It's going to look awesome with this piece. It's going to take half a dozen coats of it to cover up the black paint though. 

The Pace Family, TV Stand Revival

So I  made an offer to some friends of mine, to refinish some of their furniture for free, so that I could share it with my readers here.  You would think people would be better at following through when someone else is willing to finish their projects for them, for free!  So the Pace family are the first to follow through with providing me with pictures etc.  We started with this sad, dreary, black dresser that they were using as a entertainment center. They picked it up on the local classified for cheap. The problem with it was mostly the color. They were dusting it everyday.  The other problem was with the top.  It's a poor, previously refinished job.

  Someone had clearly tried to finish it before.  Tried being the operative word here.  It wasn't the worst refinish I had ever seen. they actually did a half decent job with this false drawer and the paint was fairly even and nice. However they put a piece of laminate over the laminate to cover some holes a genius drilled in the top.

 A seam? Really? Come on!

 Great original hardware and details though.

 I started prying and pulling and removed the "new" laminate top over the old laminate top.  Oi.

Also, I didn't think the black iron details were the right look to go with the already awesome hardware that came with the dresser. This is what I love about 70's furniture.  Such great details!  Unfortunately, everything was made out of crap particle board.  So this dressers gonna need a new top, unless the paces like this "been hanging out in the dumpster" look.

I've been playing around with some fun ideas for it, besides just putting a new piece of wood on there... leather.  Tile. Felt.  I think the porous materials are out since I want this to be a maintenance free piece for the family.

  I didn't get permission but I did it anyway. I removed the nice false drawer that had been put on it. You can see the old drawer tracks behind where the false drawer was.  This is what I have in mind.  Besides, the whole point of a TV cabinet is storage right? Why waste any bit of space?  Also, some baskets would look nice there.

 I had to pull out SO many nails...

   Please remember when refinishing your own furniture to remove the hardware. Please. For the love of monkeys, please do this.

  I got really tired because it took me forever to pull out all of the nails the previous "re-finisher" had banged all over in this thing. So we will finish this up another time. SOON.  So, this is how it sits for now. A trash heap on the floor of my garage... Soon to be treasure.

 
   

Easy Furniture Update, no Stripping or Priming Required!

Here's a fun and easy tutorial on how to quickly,and easily update a piece of furniture, while maintaining a stained look and wood grain. Here is the before:

And the After:

Happy Painting!
-Valerie

Oil Cleansing Recipe for the Face

There are many advantages to using clean, healthy oils to cleanse your face rather than soaps.  Soaps are designed to strip the oil off of your skin, leaving you needing to add an artificial oil to keep it moisturized. Our skin already makes a nice protective barrier of natural oil to protect our skin.
If you have oily skin, you likely have overactive oil glands from hormone imbalance, or your skin is simply trying to compensate for the drying it receives from your face products. This is a great method of cleansing to help calm your oil glands.  How it works, is the oil softens and gently lifts excess oil from your face.  With it, bad bacteria, grime and dead cells go with it, leaving you naturally cleansed, with fresh skin.

Here is how you can make it:
1 part Castor Oil
1 part Jojoba oil
Optional, several drops of essential oils, like tea tree, lavender or lemon
Use in conjunction with, but do mix in, Microderm abrasion crystals or baking soda.

Mix it together. I like to dispense mine in a glass dropper bottle. It only takes a dime- nickel sized amount. and then I use a tiny amount of abrasive, microderm crystals or baking soda, in whatever amount you prefer.  

How to use your new facial cleanser:
Begin with a dime size amount of cleanser in your hands, gently scrub your entire face focusing on your trouble zones and avoiding your eyes.

Prepare a fresh, clean wash cloth and get your hot tap water going so it will be HOT for later.

 Use oil cleanser without abrasives to remove eye makeup. You will want to keep those out of your eyes.

When you are done with this, heat the cloth in the hot water, and gently wipe, blot and rub the oil off of your face.  You will need to re-wet the cloth several times.  This will remove all of the excess oil, with out stripping your face.

You can hold the hot cloth over trouble areas for a minute to help eliminate breakouts.  At first, your face may need a transition period.  If you are using conventional cleansers your face may be very dry and producing excess oil to compensate.  You can deal with this by using arrowroot to dust on your face to absorb excess oil through the day, until your skin adjusts to the new regimen.  If you scrub gently, you can wash your face with this wash twice a day.

Also if the baking soda is too harsh for your skin, you can omit it from the recipe.  If your skin is oily after, then perhaps you need a hotter rag to pull the oil off of your skin.  If your face it too dry you may have it too hot.  I like to follow up with a spritz of witch hazel and glycerin.


Happy Face Cleaning!
-Valerie

Seasoned Salt Recipe

I was checking my Seasoning Salt Label for MSG, like I do all my prepackaged foods, when it occurred to me how easy it would be to make it myself.  The ingredients are basic, and simple, minus a few unnecessary ingredients like anti caking silicon and coloring.  I love using seasoning salt because it ads a little extra flavor to dishes without a lot of complication.  Most likely you would be adding the spices contained within it to your dish anyway.  You will need a mortar and pestle or a high powered blender like a Blend Tec, or a vita-mix or a coffee/spice grinder, or use finely ground salts and spices to start with. To prevent settling, it's best to have all of the ingredient particles roughly the same size.

1. Salt
I like to use Redmonds Real Salt, it is minimally processed sea salt.  It maintains many beneficial minerals, that is why it is pinkish in color.
2. Chili Powder
I love a good chili powder,  Get one that is a nice bright red and smells like fresh chili's for best flavor.
3.  Pepper
I used fresh ground black peppercorn blend,  If you do not have a grinder or blender I would recommend white pepper.  the hard shell has been removed and it is very finely ground. Go easy on it though! Use roughly half what you would regular pepper.
4.Celery Seed
Celery seed is so savory and fragrant! If you are not already using this to season dishes, you should!
5. Onion
Use dry onion powder, or flakes if you are using a blender or mortar
6. Paprika
Ads more of that classic red seasoned salt color, plus a gentle heat.
7. Garlic
Use dry garlic powder.
Without the coloring added to this mix, the color will be more pink in the bottle, than red like commercial seasoned salt, a small price to pay...  It tastes just like it and this recipe will make enough to fill your old 8 oz seasoned salt container!



1/2 Cup Salt
2 Tablespoons Chili Powder
1/2 Tablespoon White pepper
1 Tablespoon ground Celery seed
2 Tablespoons Onion powder
1/2 Tablespoon Garlic

Grind any whole spices or flakes, or put the whole shebang in your blender.  It's that simple!
Happy Cooking!
-Valerie

DIY Brick Wall Tutorial

Here is my first video tutorial on how to make a realistic looking faux (Faux: adj. (pronounced /'fo /, like "foe", French origin for false or fake.) brick texture on your interior walls. 

Its super simple and affordable way to add unique touches to your home.  This particular wall is in my master bedroom.  This room is going to be very contemporary and edgy when I am through with it!  

So fabulous!  The brick wall isn't too bad either. 

There will be more to come with the transformation of this room that the brick wall is in, and then I will still have to tackle the bathroom! 

Natural, DIY, Easy, Deodorant Recipe

There are several health concerns with store bought deodorant. The main concern is that the antiperspirant kind contain aluminum which may cause, mostly likely, cancer and dementia   Deodorant is relatively expensive as well, considering what you are buying, which is about .5 ounce of mineral salts, fillers, oils and artificial scents.  I used to buy a popular brand of antiperspirant because it would help prevent razor rash, but this simple recipe has been more effective at doing so.  It works simply by the arrow root absorbing excess moisture and wicking it away from the body and the baking soda kills the bacteria that create the odors.  The essential oils are mostly for scent but depending on which you choose, may offer additional benefit such as additional bacterial control.  I have been very impressed with the results from this easy recipe and I think you will be too.     

It's so easy to make healthful, natural and effective deodorant. There are simply 2-3 ingredients and it will take you only minutes.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup arrow root powder or cornstarch

1/2 cup baking soda

10-20 drops of your favorite essential oil, optional

Simply mix the above ingredients together with a whisk or fork, breaking up any clumps as you go.

To apply the deodorant you can use a powder puff, a large makeup brush like a kabuki or a refillable body brush. 

I finally convinced my husband to try this deodorant. He raved about it after the first few days he tried it. He said it works with odor control better than his old deodorant. I like that it doesn't smell overwhelmingly perfume-y like store bought deodorant.