Dorothy – FAQs

 

Thanks to everyone who has offered their congratulations and well wishes on this adventure we are taking.  In fact, many folks have shared that they too are considering a move to Springfield, a renovation, or a big change of some kind!  We are buoyed by the enthusiasm to see our progress and would love to have compadres for the journey!

There have also been questions…lots and lots of questions. So here are a few answers for you!

Are you doing the work yourself?

As most of you know, Josh has become quite handy.  He has been running a business doing home improvement projects since late 2015 and he will likely trade in some of the hours he had been working for others to work on Dorothy.  However, in order to do some special financing for the house (more on that in another post), we had to hire a licensed general contractor.  We interviewed several who are skilled in historic homes, and have hired a firm we feel really good about.  (I will also post about the process of interviewing and hiring a GC in a future post. 🙂 )  The GC will handle the big stuff for us, including hiring subcontractors for plumbing, electrical, HVAC, roofing and structural work.

When do you plan to get started?   We are already underway!

As of last week, Josh has already started removing a drop ceiling in the 1960’s portion of the house and is getting ready to repair the pocket doors near the front of the house.

I don’t mind that my handsome hubby is getting dirty with Dorothy.

In the meantime, our permit for a new roof is getting filed today (I hope!) We have picked a color for the roof and now I am on the Sherwin Williams and Benjamin Moore websites every night trying to decide what colors we want to paint Dorothy’s exterior.

Simultaneously, the structural engineering/architecture firm is putting the finishing touches on the drawings/elevations for the front of the house which will be submitted with our permits.  (Cannot wait to show you what’s in store!)

When do you hope to move in?

I am almost afraid to answer this question in writing.

We have been told:

• Whatever the GC told you, double it.
• Good luck if you get into it in one year.
• Ha, ha, ha!!  You want to know when you’ll move?!?

Our hope is to get into the house in the fall – late September/early October would be lovely.   I am an optimist, so I am going with it.

That’s it for now.

As always, thanks for reading.

~Jennifer

 

 

The end of the school year is here. Already?

It is May and the end of the school year is fast approaching.  Vader will finish 2nd grade this year and we are trying to determine whether he should move on to 3rd grade or stick around for 2nd grade 2.0.  That is a whole other blog post.

In addition, Splash and Turtle are finishing VPK in two weeks.  And yes, that is early.  In fact, it is 3 weeks before Vader which creates a small child care problem.  We’ll figure it out.  We always do.

So with summer fast approaching, we are starting to get excited about lazy pool days, beach trips, barbecues and parties.

And work.  But not the bad kind.

This is good work.

If you are not friends with me on Facebook, you may not know that my little start up company, the one that blossomed out of my win at last year’s Start Up weekend, launched its website on March 31.

Yes, MystiKit is live.

I am going to be blogging for MystiKit to promote not only the amazing kits that bloggers are already creating to help people (like me) get projects done, but also to share other Pinterest related things – project successes, project fails, tips and tools.

As soon as that blog gets up and running, I will share it with you here.

In the meantime, I want to share a few MystiKits that I built on the platform.

MystiKits are a way for people to batch items in a pre-populated shopping cart.  If a blogger creates a MystiKit, her (or his) readers can buy knowing that they have all of the items they need (and in sufficient quantities) to do the project that the blogger created.  And the best part?  She/he already found everything and put it there for you to buy – no searching, no guessing, no endless clicking and adding on two or three or ten websites…  No driving to Joann’s only to find that you cannot find what you need…and then you are off to Michaels or Hobby Lobby.  Nope.

MystiKits are convenient.

And correct.

And quick.

Since my personal DIY project activity has suffered recently, I created two kits for non-project use.  (We don’t discriminate.  You can use MystiKit for anything!)

• A MystiKit for a book themed baby shower – I have a friend who is having one next month.  Someone else might find this kit useful for a shower they’ve been invited to.

• A lunch box MystiKit – this one is for me.  Unlike during the school year when I am only making lunch for one kid, I will be making lunches all summer for all three kids.  This kit is most of the non-perishable stuff I will be buying each month for the boys.  Even if no one else finds this useful, I will not have to go back and find this stuff again. Yay!

If you want to try your hand at creating a MystiKit, just email me or register on the MystiKit website on the “Become a Kitter” page.

We are in Beta testing mode, but we are extending invitations to new kitters every day!

When life gives you a pallet…you make a lemonade stand

A few weeks ago, a co-worker asked if I would like a pallet that had been used to deliver computer equipment to our office. He said he was going to put it in the dumpster, but he thought he should check to see if I might be interested in taking it home instead.  I am sure I had blathered on at some point about reusing or recycling everything so I was really impressed that he had been listening and psyched had made such a thoughtful offer.

It took a few days, but I finally got it home.  (My co-worker went above-and-beyond and cut the pallet in half so I could fit it in my Mazda wagon!)

Once home, HH asked me what we were going to do with it.  While I had lots of ideas, I had not mentally committed to anything yet and so, the Pinterest exploration began.

There was this idea where you turn a pallet into a upright garden.

Source: Lifeonthebalcony.com
http://lifeonthebalcony.com/how-to-turn-a-pallet-into-a-garden/

However, I was pretty sure that my pallet had been made with chemically treated lumber.  Rather than worrying if the plants were being slowly poisoned, I decided against this idea.

That also ruled out any cool indoor projects like pallet art

Source: LIfe As aThrifter
http://lifeasathrifter.blogspot.com/2012/03/hello-sunshine.html

or a pallet wall

Source: The Bower Power Blog
http://www.bowerpowerblog.com/2010/02/nursery-news-accent-wall/

The idea that won the day was…a lemonade stand!

HH was immediately on board.  When I told Vader, he was interested…especially if he could use it to help him make some money.  Splash and Turtle were a “yes” too.  It involved paint and power tools…which is perfect for two four-year-olds!

While we did not follow anyone else’s plans, we did steal at least one idea from Pinterest. We loved the look of the stripes from this stand.

This is Me Inspired
http://thisismeinspired.blogspot.com/2011/10/fun-vintage-food-stands.html

I also love these straws and the printables from Living Locurto.  Perhaps when the stand is open for business, we’ll print a few of these up.

Source: LIving Locurto
http://www.livinglocurto.com/2011/07/lemonade-stand-free-printables/

Still, nothing on Pinterest seemed like a great match for the dimensions of our pallet and so our stand is a Chez Bosslady original design.

Here is our supply list:

• One wood pallet – 4′ long and 2′ wide
• A scrap piece of paneling (already had in workshop)
• Box of nails (had on hand)
• White spray paint – $3.98
• Yellow spray paint – $3.98
• 3 – 1/2″ x 5 ft. PVC pipe – $4.41
• 2 – 1/2″ PVC elbows – $0.56
• 2 – 1 x 2 x 6 pine lumber – $4.64
• white, yellow and black acrylic paint (had in-house)
• scrap 1 x 6 for sign (had in workshop)
• 2 eye hooks for sign (had in workshop)
• twine (had in house)

Total cost was about $18.

HH and I started by taking the first half of the pallet apart.  We then used the loose pieces to form the sides of the other half so that the end result was a “C” shape.  It was kinda like a game of Jenga, except with hammers, a heavy mallet and lots of nails.

Afterward, we let the fellas paint it.

I cut the 1 x 2 lumber into 2′ strips that Vader sprayed yellow.  These pieces would be nailed into the spaces between the pallet original planks.

HH drilled holes into the corners of the stand and we slid in the PVC pipe.

Then we connected the PVC elbows.

While the littler boys were playing in the rain, I worked up a little sign with Vader’s help.

Vader quickly did all of the letters in the word “Lemonade”  and then got bored.  So while he went outside to attach the yellow strips to the front of the stand, all on his own mind you, I finished it.  Then we hung the newly made sign with the eye hooks and the twine.

The only thing left to do is cut, paint and attach the top of the stand. Unfortunately, we had to stop since we could not spray paint or use the table saw in the garage and the rain from Tropical Storm Debbie never let up.   But that did not stop the brothers of “Brothers Three Lemonade” from giving their new stand a go.

Daddy was their first customer.

And in true Chez BossLady fashion, at least one of the boys was naked.  (That’s just how we roll around here.)

The boys cannot wait to move this out to the street and start making some money and HH and I are happy that we were able to put this pallet to good use.  I will post some additional pictures of the finished product on a sunnier day.

Hope you had a great weekend!

~ Jennifer

A Pinterest Project: DIY chalk sidewalk paint

BLOGGER UPDATE 4/12/2013

Want to make this DIY project yourself? Click my MystiKit button below for everything you need, shipped right to your house.

 

I found this kid-friendly project on Pinterest a while back and waited for a lazy day when the rain would likely come soon thereafter to give it a go.   (The original source was this blog.)

With Tropical Storm Beryl headed our way, we decided to try it out.

Turtle and I whipped a batch of homemade chalk paint.

The ingredients:

• Cornstarch
• Water
• Food coloring

I did not follow the Pinterest recipe.  It was way to soupy.  I kept adding cornstarch well past the suggested amount until each cup holder was thick.

Then we added food coloring.

Then, Turtle and I painted the front sidewalk.  As the paint dried,  it lightened up into a rainbow of pastels.

Cheap.

Easy.

No clean up thanks to Beryl.

Pinterest perfection.

Thanks for reading.

-Jennifer

 

Construction recap: I only cried once.

I did it!  My first (completed) construction project.

In total:

One pin on Pinterest.

One Turtle assistant.

Four sides built.

One 10 minute bout of crying, as some sides had to be built more than once so that they were square.

.

Six hours (Nope, not two hours.  Mr. Hammerzone probably does not have to referee Wrestlemania 2012 every 30 minutes or so.)

One mis-measurement.  (Can you see that the top is too short?  If you can’t here, you’ll be able to see it at the end.)

 One creative solution – for the bottom shelf, I improvised and added a brace for support.

ONE WORKSHOP TABLE!

Sage or Rosemary? Cilantro or Parsley?

Ah, March.  How excited I am to see you, you lovely month, you!

I am also excited to be planting yet another garden at Chez Boss Lady.  This year’s effort will hopefully flourish and produce a bounty of veggies and herbs for the family.  We have not had stellar results thus far, but since we are in our third year of lessons about planting in the spring, I have learned a good bit about what not to do.

For instance:

• Do not grow anything on the west side of the house.  There is not enough light.
• Do not grow anything right behind the house. There are too many kids playing too close.
• Do not plant seedlings too close together.  Give plenty of room for creeping veggies to creep and all plants to grow.  When you think you have planted far enough apart, go another 6 inches.
• Do not use those little plastic markers to identify your seeds.  They do not work…at least not for your family.

That last lesson we picked up last year when our kids promptly removed several of the markers right after we planted.  The ones that were left got trampled by little feet, right along with the plants themselves.

However, Martha Stewart has come to the rescue in the plant identifying department.  This helpful hint was in the April, 2011 issue of Living.  (You would think I would have used the idea last Spring, but no.)

So what is this amazing idea?  Whittle some of the bark off the ends of several small branches.  (If you don’t have a knife to whittle with, then use a vegetable peeler.  It should also do the trick.)

When you get to a flat surface, grab your handy-dandy Sharpie and write the name of the plant.  Insert it deep into the ground.  Done.

Bloggers everywhere wrote about it like these here and here and even a Pinterest mention here and why shouldn’t they!?  The idea is free (assuming you can find twigs) and organic and takes all of about 5 minutes.

Perhaps this year, we will both know what we tried to grow and grow it well.

 

Just be.

Tonight, I had the pleasure of just having fun.  I went with a lovely friend to paint for more than two hours.  And by paint, I mean, I painted a painting.  Not a wall.  Or a piece of furniture.  Or a wall. (Yes, I said it twice.  We paint a lot of walls at Chez Boss Lady.)

It was nice just to hang out.  The painting lesson at Yes You Canvas was stress free and my painting was not half bad.  (See below for work in progress.)

It was nice to just be.  Have a little fun.  Drink a little wine.  Visit with a dear friend.

And just be.

Home improved enough.

What a crazy, busy weekend.  It was filled with birthday parties and bike riding and home improvement. Lots of home improvement.

On Monday, we were having the house appraised for the purpose of refinancing.  When I scheduled the appraisal appointment, the appraiser asked about what improvments we had done to the house.  I told him about the roof, the siding, the master bedroom floors, the master bath, the new window, the new mail box and then, the flip-flop of the kitchen and dining room…which “are not finished.”

“What does that mean?” he asked.

Well, I told him that the kitchen is fully functional.  We have a new range, a new dishwasher,  new cabinets “and so on…”

“Do you have counters?”

“Yes.  Sort of.”

“Floors?”

“Yes, sort of.”

We have them, they are just not what we will have forever.  The floors are concrete subfloors and the counters are Craigslist hand-me-downs  which are simply resting on top of the cabinets until we have all of the cabinets installed.  And that is not going to be anytime soon.

And on it went from there.

The man politely told me that we did not stand a chance of getting the refi to go through if it appears like we were in mid-renovation.  The renovation, which is far from being done, needed to look “done enough.”

So while I cleaned the marker off the wall, put the furniture back where it was supposed go (i.e. moving the boy’s night stands next to the beds – where I quickly remembered why I moved them away before – they make great launching pads) and so on, HH got to work on making the house look done enough.

He started on this wall.

This space will eventually be a washer and dryer/laundry area in my dining room.  

What? (That is my mother speaking in my head.)

Yes, I plan to have my laundry room in my dining room.

Currently, my washer and dryer are in the garage, too far from the bedrooms in the house and not the happiest place to be in the middle of winter or summer.

I would like something like this .

 

Source:  Better Homes and Gardens.

I can see using my future dining room table as an impromptu folding station which would be  light-years better than hauling up basket after basket of unfolded laundry to the master bedroom and folding at the foot of my bed.

However, we are not planning to make this improvement any time soon.  And while I can live with the exposed plumbing, the home appraiser probably would not look too kindly on my wall ala swiss cheese.

Off to the store to buy bead-board.  HH installed it right over top – no patching or taping or mudding. 

With just a few finish nails, we can pull it right off when we are ready to build in the new cabinet.

Sorry for the grumpy kid in the shot.  Splash was mad that his Dad was not available to play.

Next, we struggled with the counter top.  Since the future counter would be way deeper and heavier than what would be needed now, we needed a cheap alternative.

We read that Jax Bargain Plywood was going out of business and so we drove by on Saturday after a dune buggy party on the westside of town – more to come on that later.  🙂

The shelves were picked clean except for one little lonely door with no hope for a home.  It was too light and too small for a standard door …in other words, perfect for us. And, it was $5.  Really, $5.35 with FL sales tax.  Yay!

First, HH cut it to size.  Next, I hot glued some of the scraps to the ends to act as trim.  Last, HH used a few L-brackets to keep it supported on top of the wall.  

From the photo, you can see how the kitchen looked when the appraiser came by.  We added a huge area rug, balanced the toe kicks in front of the cabinets so that they looked finished and strategically placed items around the kitchen to distract anyone from looking too closely at the finished product. 

We are cautiously optimistic about the results.

And exhausted.

Tip of the week: Stripping a screw

Quite a name for a post from a family friendly blogger, right? It is not what it sounds like, I promise. 

In 2012, I am making good on the desire to be more crafty.  Santa brought me a jig saw and I hope to have some projects in the works soon.  Plus, there are no shortage of projects around Chez Boss Lady.

I came across this little tidbit of “handy-gal” information in the September, 2011 issue of Good Housekeeping.  I thought it was worth sharing, even if you are not handy or never plan to be.  I think every person should know basic tool skills.  Perhaps that sounds a little preachy, but some of the most common household problems are easily remedied with a little know-how.  I know many of us are looking to save a little money and who does not want to be more self-sufficient? And so, periodically I hope to share a tip with you that I have learned by trial and error, in my copious magazine readings or through the wonderous blogging community here in the world wide web.

The problem:  How to unscrew a screw if the top has been stripped of its indentations?

The solution: Take a rubber band and place it between the head of the screw driver and the head of the screw.   The screw driver won’t slip and the rubber band should help you to turn the screw!

Voila!  Look at you, you handy gal!

Good Housekeeping, September 2011

If I had a little girl

I would want to make her this.

Heck, I may do it anyhow for one of my little guys.