Bathroom Remodel

Bathroom Rebuild

First came the dripping down in the laundry room when anyone took a shower upstairs--which Bob always blamed on everyone--Kate in particular--not closing the shower door properly. So on it dripped. Then came the dark spots in the hardwood floors in the front hall where water was wicking in from the bathroom wall. Then came the repeated black stains on the shower tiles and the squishy spot in the floor by the tub. It was definitely time for bathroom repairs. And why go halfway when you can strip something down to the studs? This will be LONG project...stay tuned.

Time: many, many hours over an indeterminate span of time.....?

Cost: One arm, one leg...perhaps a firstborn...

Witch-gear: All of it, and perhaps some "necessary" new purchases?

Level of Difficulty: (What's with the saws?)

What I Learned: So far...that old tile and backer board is very heavy and hard to dispose of. That things always take MUCH longer than you anticipated they would. That you should plan BEFORE you start as some things may take weeks to track down or special order.

In Progress Treeskirt

In Progress Tree Skirt

This treeskirt is a wedding gift for my good friends Megan and Brian. They got married April 22, 2006. -I guess I am a little behind. I've made this pattern once before for myself and since Megan liked it so much I wanted to make her one. I am off to a great start and am posting about my unfinished project to provide myself with the personal pressure to keep up and finish it. I would really like to have this to them in time to use this December. My dear Mum has promised to quilt it for me if I can make sure to have the piecework done by Thanksgiving. Wish me luck! I will post later with pictures of the completed project.

Time: I'll let you know once I am done.

Cost: a secret since it is a gift.

Witch-gear: cotton fabric, rotary cutter, clear quilting ruler, and a strong desire to have Megan & Brian put up a Christmas tree.

Level of Difficulty: (What's with the saws?)


What I Learned: That progress speeds up rapidly when I just have everything set up and ready to go. I am sneaking in a little work here and there. For example, I can sew a little in the morning while I wait for my turn to use the shower.

The Handmade Market

Handmade Market

The Handmade Market is put on to provide the triangle community with a chance to shop for goodies made with tender loving care by vendors from all over. I have participated several times before and it usually involves working on stuff right up to the last minute. My usual wares are handmade cards. I start out by first creating a series of collages. Next my dear husband scans the originals for me and we have prints made. I then sew each print on to a blank card with my sewing machine.

Time: many hours over several evenings after work

Cost: N/A

Witch-gear: bits of paper, stickers, pencils, paints, boxes of blank cards from Michaels, Kenmore sewing machine, Yes! paste, and a trusted x-acto kinfe.

Level of Difficulty: (What's with the saws?)


What I Learned: I need to come prepared with enough cards to restock my suitcase as the day goes on. Luckily, there were lots of cards sold but by the end of the day this resulted in the table looking sadly empty. Also I should start working on stuff earlier.

Buick Tune-Up

Buick Photos

Kevin and I helped our friend Brian change the spark plugs, wires, oil, and air filter on his 1986 Buick Century (Custom!)

Time: 3 hours

Cost: ~$40 at Advanced Auto and Autozone.

Witch-gear: Standard mechanics tools set, additional extenders and universal joints, torque wrench, dielectric tune-up grease, graphite grease

Level of Difficulty: (What's with the saws?)

What We Learned: As a general rule, it is not worth the time and effort needed to change the internal fuel filter on a 1986 Buick Century Custom.

Battery Pack Rebuild

Battery Pack Rebuild 2 Photos

This Milwaukee cordless driver was at one time a very handy tool. When the battery pack lost its charge it wasn't as useful. New battery packs tend to be expensive and hard to find so I cracked this one open and put in a few new cells.

Time: 0.5 hours

Cost: $2.69 for two new 2600 mAH NiCd batteries

Witch-gear: 30W soldering iron

Level of Difficulty: (What's with the saws?)

CD Dividers

CD Dividers

I wanted to make some CD dividers for Steph and I's Ikea Billy bookshelf. They sell something just like this (sadly, it's not my clever idea), but I knew it would be quicker and cheaper to just make them here, rather than drive four hours to the nearest Ikea, or order them and pay for the shipping.

Time: 3 hours

Cost: $12.50 (half the cost of a full sheet of nice plywood) at Lowe's.

Witch-gear: 10" Tablesaw, Bandsaw, Drill Press with a 1/2" forstner bit

Level of Difficulty: (What's with the saws?)

What I Learned: You cannot adjust the height of the third shelf on an Ikea Billy bookshelf. It is fixed in place (for stability, I'm guessing). I knew this at one time, because I put the self together, but I had forgotten and just made all three of the CD dividers an arbitrary height, figuring I'd adjust the shelves to fit. Turns out I should have measured the available space and divided it into thirds. I got the dividers home from the family workshop and found out 5/8" had to be taken off each unit for them to fit one-each on the top three shelves.

New Shop Light

New Shop Light

Dad and I put up a new shop light to replace an old noisey one in Mom's study. The new one is nice and quiet.

Time: 0.5 hours

Cost: ~$30 at Lowes

Witch-gear: Drill

Level of Difficulty: (What's with the saws?)

What We Learned: T8 Bulbs are smaller, brighter, and quieter than the regular size T12 Bulbs.