A Blast from the Past....

After four months, the living is nearly complete.

I hope you'll check back on Thursday for the final reveal... or final for now!

The Dining Room - Fireplace Side....

It's been a whirlwind of "catching up" around here over the past couple of weeks.... my apologies for my absence (I have duly chastised myself and have recorded my poor performance on my permanent record, lol!)

Outside of my grown-up job,  kids, "taxi duty" and life in general, I have found time to wrap up a few projects around the house.

I re-worked the fireplace surround on the dining room side.  You can read about the process and before & afters of the Living Room side here.  


This is where I started...

(yes.... those are candles in the firebox!  For the holidays, I had them nestled in greenery and holly from the yard.  After the holidays..... just sad!)

Using the same technique from the opposite side and these products...

a few hours later, we wound up with this...

No grout yet.... but I did decide to tile that small area just above the molding and below the firebox, just to pull it all together.  You can see that portion in the first photo.

As far as the firebox...

check back tomorrow for the reveal.  Less than one hour and $20, and it looks SOOO much better!

Linking this to...

Nifty Thrifty Tuesday

The Finished "Leftover" Project....

Had you figured it out yet?  If you said trivet, you would be correct.

I'm forever looking for something to put hot dishes on at dinner time.  The best/only thing I can come up with is a pot holder or folded kitchen towel.

But after completing the living room fireplace makeover (read here) I kept looking at the tiles I had leftover and wondering what I could do with them.

So starting with this....

I wound up with this....

I used the same SimpleMat tile adhesive I used on the fireplace surround.  Trimmed and adhered the tiles in place; then grouted and wiped clean.  Once it was dry, I glued a narrow ribbon around the outside.  Ideally, I'd like to wrap the sides in some type of "metal tape".... similar to the stuff you use to wrap glass pieces that are soldered together in making stain glass.  It would make it easier to clean up, rather than the fabric ribbon.  But this one is for me and I'll just have to be neat!

The smaller squares shown in the picture above will become coasters.  I have the dark copper colored tiles and the lighter iridescent tiles are left over from the kitchen back splash.  I bought a quarter sheet piece of 1/4 inch wood for about $5.  It's not actually wood.... rather like a press-wood- Tempered Hard Board is the technical name (thanks, man of men!).  It's soft- not rough like plywood, so there was no need to sand or felt the backside.  Besides, the quarter-sheet was already cut and easier for me to lug through the Home Depot- saved some unsuspecting shoppers from a nasty bruise or two.... "you're welcome!"

The "wood" was enough for 8 trivets and 8 sets of 4 coasters.  The tiles are all leftover pieces and strips, and if I need additional grout, a small container is around $8.

So for roughly $13 and my time, I'll have 8 gifts.... 1 trivet and 4 coasters per set.  Not bad for less than $2 a set!  If I had to buy the tile, 2 sheets would cover both the trivet and one set of coasters (with some left over) for around $8.00, so if you're starting from scratch you'd be looking at right around $10.  That's still not bad for what you end up with.  Pretty & practical!

So what do you do with your leftovers?

Home Stories A2Z Tutorials & Tips
Restore Interiors...Restored it Wednesday
Touch of Grace... Twice Owned Tuesday
The Shabby Creek Cottage... Transformation Thursday
Alchemy Fine Living.... From Trash to Treasure
Coastal Charm... Nifty Thrift Tuesday
Hookin' Up With HOH
The Shabby Nest... Frugal Friday
Making Lemondade... Refresh Your Nest
Ladybird Lane... Weekend Show Off Party

An Inventive Use for Leftovers....

of the non-food type!

Can you guess what we're making?  Check back tomorrow for the final Hand-Made for the Holidays gift!