Great Cakes Soapworks » Project Week

Girls’ Rooms Project Update

Amy Warden — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 01:36:35 +0000

I’m almost embarrassed to tell you how long I’ve been working on the girls’ bedrooms. You can find the original posts under Project Week – two years ago! The final step was that they needed bedside tables. So last December my hair stylist donated a couple of matching tables for our cause. They are pretty great structurally, but needed to be stripped and painted. I finally finished stripping them about a month ago. Today we pulled them out of the garage and my husband helped me finish the job.

Hubby power-sanding a drawer

Priming with the power sprayer

Notice all the “power” tools? It really does pay to be married to a general contractor!

The tables came with some really cute pewter drawer pulls – three butterflies, three frogs, and three dragonflies. Here are they are in their final destinations:

The green room is my older daughter's room

My younger daughter’s room has also been transformed since the last time I showed it to you. She no longer wanted pink – her latest desire is for everything to be blue. So we went from this:

My younger daughter's room "before"

To this:

My younger daughter's room "after"

Project (FINALLY) complete! And now, I need a shower before we go out to watch the fireworks… Hope you all have a safe and happy 4th!

Finishing Touches and Final Reveal

Amy Warden — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 22:42:37 +0000

I’ve been taking a break from soap for a few days and working on putting together the finishing touches for our half bathroom. You can see where I started here, and the sneak peek here. Yesterday, I went to Hobby Lobby and the Goodwill to pick up some items to decorate with. I’ll start with my finds at the Goodwill. I had been looking for an inexpensive wastebasket at Walmart and they have been clearancing out most of their bathroom accessories lately, so no luck there. I was so excited to find this white wastebasket at the Goodwill for just $4.00. It appeared to be practically new, except for the sticky residue from labels or tape, I’m not sure which. Enter my new best friend: WD-40. Not only does it lubricate locks, it removes sticky residue! Without much scrubbing on my part, the wastebasket now looks like brand new:

White wastebasket from Goodwill

Second find of the day: a greenish glass jug filled with very ugly pink and blue decorations – probably from the early 80′s? I knew if I could remove said decorations, I would have a very nice jug to put my decorative branches in from Hobby Lobby. Turns out those decorations had been permanently bonded to the bottom of the jug.

My husband suggested gently warming it in a pan of water on the stove. I tried that – then discovered how the decorations had actually been installed. Once the jug got warm enough, it magically separated at the bottom and whatever the nasty bonding material was came right out. The final photo shows the branches displayed in the jug, but I haven’t figured out how to glue it back together yet:

1. Glass jug, as purchased. 2. Warming it up in a pan on the stove. 3. All the parts separated. 4. Final display.

I made a wall decoration with some fun items from Hobby Lobby yesterday, but after I put it in the bathroom, it didn’t really go. Scratched that. Picked up a few more goodies at Marshall’s, Pier One, Michael’s and Target today, then dug out the seashells I collected from our trip to the Bahamas a couple years ago. Here’s the final reveal:

Dark brown basket from Hobby Lobby, Seashell from the Bahamas, Orange Citrus Coconut candle on clearance from Walmart, Natural wire wrap (around the candle) from Michael's

New light fixture from Lowe's

Glass jug from the Goodwill, decorative branches from Hobby Lobby, and some previously purchased river rock in the bottom of the jug

View from the toilet - Fresh paint on the cabinet with new brushed nickel cabinet handles from Lowe's, and hinges from a local ebay seller

Cabinet over the toilet - Top: Hollowed out piece of wood on clearance from Pier One, Seashell from the Bahamas, Blue and brown vase from Marshalls; Inside shelf: Blue beachside candle and washclothes from Target, Washcloth holder from the Goodwill, Orange candle and seashell holder both on clearance from Pier One

And because I know you are dying to see my work of art that got nixed:

My reasons why this doesn't work: 1. Colors are too bright 2. Too many different colors 3. The wall is too crowded 4. The fabric would be difficult to keep clean

I’m so relieved to be done! Now I can get back to soap – Amber Fig will be ready next week. I’m getting ready to stamp that one and the Pineapple Blossom. I promise to let you know when the Pineapple Blossom is fully cured. Have a great weekend!

Half Bathroom Sneak Peek

Amy Warden — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 23:04:54 +0000

The bathroom project is coming along nicely! It looks totally different, and I love it! Just need to add the finishing touches. Here’s a sneak peek:

As you can see, I’ve chosen a light turquoise for the walls. I don’t think my camera captured the true color, but you get the idea. I changed my mind about the towel bar and toilet paper holder that matched the faucet. They were chrome and porcelain, and to make all the other hardware in the bathroom match, we would have had to use a lot of chrome. Blech. So brushed nickel is the finish we chose instead. And while we were at it, the builder-grade, super-ugly brass light bar over the mirror also got replaced – hoo-ray! You can see part of the new fixture in this picture, and I’ll be sure to show you a better picture in the final reveal.

I’ve been looking around my normal stores (Walmart, Target, Marshall’s, Pier One) for the finishing touches, and not having a lot of luck finding what I want. Today, I spent over an hour at Hobby Lobby and finally picked out some fun fabric, ribbon, iron-on rhinestones and a canvas for a wall decoration. They also had all their dried naturals half price, so I picked up some great accents as well. I bought a candle at Walmart the other day that should go nicely, and also went to the Goodwill (since it’s next to Hobby Lobby) and scored a few deals. I still have another surprise for the walls, but it’s going to be custom made, so I’m not sure when it will be done! Next post will be about how I put all my finishing touches together – can’t wait! Anyone else have a room with turquoise walls?

Another Project

Amy Warden — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 20:33:53 +0000

I realize that I haven’t posted most of this week. I’ve started yet another home improvement project! It’s the smallest room in our house, aside from the closets, yet one of the most visited each day. The wallpaper border had been picked off in several places, and the baseboard was in desperate need of paint. When the towel bar pulled out of the wall – yet again – I decided it was time to take necessary steps to transform it. Have you guessed by now which room I’m referring to? It’s the half bathroom.

Since it’s such a small room, I figured it wouldn’t take that long to fix it up. Ha! I started the project last Saturday by removing the remaining wallpaper border. Since then, my husband has patched up the walls for painting, and I have primed over the dark plum paint and put the first coat of paint on the walls. I’ve also painted all the trim, including the door and the cupboard under the sink.

Here are my before pictures:

Broken towel bar, peeling wallpaper border

More peeling wallpaper border

...and more peeling wallpaper border - it's a fun diversion while you're sitting on the pot, I suppose.

Nasty baseboards

We put in this faucet shortly after we moved into the house:

Bathroom faucet

The new towel bar and paper holder are similar in style to this faucet. I’m also looking for some new hardware for the cupboard doors under the sink, a new light fixture over the sink, and I’ll have a nice surprise for the walls as well. It’s going to be a total transformation! Can’t wait to show you! For those of you still waiting for final reveals from my girls’ bedrooms, I’m still sort of waiting too. The green room is mostly done.

In the meantime, you have about one more day to enter the drawing for a Great Cakes Soapworks tote bag. Thank you for all the really great testimonials I’ve received so far!

Desk Chairs are Finally Finished

Amy Warden — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 03:04:23 +0000

Remember Project Week? Back in July, I think it was? I was working on re-decorating my daughters’ rooms for their birthdays. I almost finished. I’m still not completely done, but at least I’ve been working on them again. I finally finished painting their desk chairs today!

The chairs were technically free since we had one dining room chair left from a set my husband had bought before we were married. The other chair I received from a lady who answered my request on Freecycle. Turns out the chair she gave us is extremely similar to the one we already had! It was pretty wobbly when we got it, so I asked my dad to re-glue it (which he did back in August!). He’s good at that sort of thing.

Last week I decided to get my paint and primer back out and get to work! It had been so long since I worked on this project that I had misplaced the can of primer and could not find my good paint brush. I finally found the primer, but never did find my brush so I had to buy another one – which just made me mad! I put on two thin coats of primer, followed by at least two coats of paint. Let me just say that it takes awhile to brush all those spindles!

I was happy with the end result though, and fortunately so are the girls:

My younger daughter's chair is mostly white with a few green spindles

My older daughter's chair is mostly white with lime green and turquoise spindles

I still owe you a final reveal…some day. I hate half finished projects!!

I’m Overcommitted

Amy Warden — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 01:06:59 +0000

The title says it all. I jumped in with both feet on these rooms, and I’m still not finished. My older daughter’s birthday is tomorrow, and we are hosting a party at our house in the afternoon. I am making the cake – and decorating it.

The good news is that I have chairs for both of the girls’ desks. I put out a want ad on Freecycle for some chairs, and someone actually has a chair exactly like one that we already have. So today I started priming the one we have, and have plans to pick up the other one tomorrow. I will no longer try to tell you when the final reveal will be. Just keep yourselves in suspense and you will be shocked and surprised when it happens. (And hopefully, ooooh and aaaah.)

Project Week: Day Six

Amy Warden — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 02:45:40 +0000

I was hoping to have a final reveal for you today, but I’m not quite ready. There are just a few finishing touches that need to be done on the Alien Green room (which is growing on me, by the way). Who knew that there was only one curtain panel in the package? I thought $7.96 was a steal for a pair! We also need to hang a few more things on the walls, and hopefully find a second-hand chair that we can paint and use for a desk chair. At least it the room is pretty well cleaned and the furniture has been re-arranged. Here is a sneak peek:

The Pink & Green room is also coming along. The headboard has been attached, the rest of the furniture has been re-arranged, and I started making the curtains. After examining the walls, it would seem that they are also due for a coat of paint – at least the bottom half. I’m going to try to just do the green part and the trim for now. Maybe the next time we work on the room, it will get a complete makeover.

Final Reveal is now scheduled for Monday! Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Project Week: Day Five

Amy Warden — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 02:31:13 +0000

It’s been a rather un-exciting day for projects today. Not that I haven’t been working on them. The list of things I’ve accomplished today would bore you though, and there isn’t anything photo-worthy. I would much rather be able to show you the final reveal after we finish up tomorrow. It will be much more exciting!!

Project Week: Day Four

Amy Warden — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 03:30:58 +0000

It’s been a rather long day. It would have been even longer if my friend Leslie hadn’t come over and helped out. She is an awesome painter! Experienced and fast. We worked on trim, painted the doors, and painted some furniture. (The dresser was mine when I was little, and my mom said they bought it at a garage sale. It’s hard to say how old it might be!)

The only mishap was when I backed up and knocked over the headboard this evening, putting a rather large dent in it. I didn’t get that part in the picture because it was too depressing. Here’s what we did today:

Tomorrow, I really hope to have the Alien Green room put back together and get started on my other daughter’s room. There should be less to do in the second bedroom. I hope. I’m getting rather tired!

The fall soap survey is officially closed. Thank you so much to all 55 participants! I will draw for a winner of the FREE fall scented soap, and post the results of the survey tomorrow!

Project Week: Day Three

Amy Warden — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 02:46:23 +0000

Well, we now have Ginormica Green walls. And by the look on my daughter’s face, I’d say she loves it!! My friend Leslie had to take care of vehicle issues today, so she wasn’t able to come paint, but she’s hoping to make an appearance tomorrow when we tackle the trim.

You can see why she picked this color. Just look at her shorts!

And the younger one is completely happy to have her bed off the floor. You can’t even really tell in the picture, but it’s up on bed rails now.

Hope she doesn't fall off the bed!

Besides trim paint, tomorrow I’m also hoping to finish painting their headboards (which have been sitting in our garage for about two years now), and the dresser that will go back in the Alien Green room. Really it’s not that bad. Everything is just glowing. Another friend came over today and said my daughter will need sunglasses just to go to sleep in there. Ha! Ha!