Finished Laundry

We finally put the finishing touches on our laundry closet!

You might remember what the area looked like before we even started the project or since I last posted about it:

To flashback and see the process it took to create our laundry room- click here for the full post

To build the countertop:

First, we screwed 2" strips of MDF onto the walls to support the countertop- making sure to screw into the studs.  We put them at the height we wanted the bottom of the counter to be [machines required >1" space above them] and made sure the supports were level.  The side supports were cut 3" shorter than the depth of the countertop so they set back visually a little bit.

[In hind-sight, this step would have been much easier before the machines were here.  It was very tricky to get the drill at the right angle to screw them in without the machines being in the way, but we didn't have much choice since the washer/dryer were on special and had to be delivered by a certain date]

I also used this time without the countertop in to paint the supports the same color as the wall since you will see the front of them!

 We measured and cut a large piece of 3/4" MDF plywood for our countertop to lay on top of the supports (just did a dry-fit to make sure it was the right size)

 We also cut a notch into the countertop to allow for the hoses.  We had the plumber install the water valves above the machines so it was easier to reach them if we needed to turn them off.  It would have been very difficult to get to them if they were directly behind the washer and under the countertop! 

Next, we laminated the countertop with Formica.  I didn't think about taking any photos of the laminating process...whoops  :(

 To laminate: we took the top outside and layed it on two sawhorses.  We glued the gray stainless-steel-like formica onto our MDF countertop using DAP Weldwood non-flammable contact cement.  You roll/paint it onto the wood and the back of the formica then let it dry for 30-40 minutes.  Then we carefully laid our pre-cut formica [an inch bigger than the wood on every side] over it- making sure to roll out any air pockets from the center outward.  

After that, we borrowed a friends' router and used a laminate flush trim bit we bought to rout the excess formica off of the edges.  Then we did the same steps all over again for the front edge of the countertop and used wood glue to glue the whole top to the wall supports!

 

We used the old cabinet from our bathroom [pre-remodel], painted it white, added new hardware, and hung it for laundry detergent etc...  Then added thin pre-primed trim around the cabinet to finish the edges, caulked, and painted it.

I desperately needed a space to hang clothes to dry, so we added a pole from the cabinet to the wall

 I also created this sign for hanging "lost socks" by using a metal sign I found at World Market and gluing little wooden clothespin clips to it!

 Ahhhhh... Finally done!

Gingerbread Architecture

This year with the Kersten family, in New Jersey, we had a Gingerbread House Competition!

With two Architecture graduates, one Interior Architecture graduate, an Interior Designer, and a historian- things are bound to get interesting!!!

To make the gingerbread house pieces:

1 C Crisco Melted
1 1/2 C Molasses (Grandma's brand)
1 C Sugar
5 C Flour
1 Tbs Ginger
1 Tbs Allspice
1 tsp salt
1 tsp Baking Soda
1 egg

Melt Crisco- mix in a bowl with Molasses and sugar.  Add all dry ingredients wile mixing then add egg.  Dough will be smooth, soft and elastic.  Cover with damp cloth to keep soft while working.  [We found it was easier to work with after it had cooled down a minute or two]  Put wet paper towel on table cover with parchment or brown paper.  Roll dough to desired thickness [about 1/8" thick], cut and remove outsides.  [My sister-in-law, Liz, had cookie cutters for the house shapes] Place paper and dough on cookie sheet.  Bake until outside edges are lightly brown at 350 degrees.  Remove from pan to cool.

Then let the pieces cool for a day before assembling them with icing.

Royal Icing:

1/4 C Meringue Powder (Wilton brand)
1 Lb powered sugar (2 1/2 - 3 cups)
6-7 Tbs Hot water
Beat 10 min on high-make sure the bowl and the beaters have nothing greasy on them.

[scoop some icing into small baggies and cut the corner to use as a piping bag]

We cut a circle out of cardboard and covered it with foil for the base of each gingerbread house.

Working hard on our little homes!

It's definitely helpful to have a couple of exact o knives for carving shapes and cutting details!

 The finished products:

 Liz & Tom created a nature-themed cottage in the woods complete with a campfire, dried fruit garland, almond pine trees, granola ground cover, chex-tiled roof, and dusted powdered sugar for snow!

 Nancy & Jerry made a southwestern-themed home with a licorice tile roof, pretzel cactus, rosemary bushes, graham cracker sand, dried cranberry hanging "peppers", and an inflatable snowman on the porch!

Jim & Betsy used the same gingerbread pieces to cut out their own shapes for St. Basil's Cathedral in Russia!  They used large hershey kisses, tootsie roll, and caramel squares to mold their onion domes.  It was pretty funny a couple of days later the large caramel dome became too heavy and began to tilt causing the middle tower to lean and sink into the base!

Matt & my Deutsches Fachwerk cottage in der Schwartzwald

[German cottage in the Black Forrest]

We used icing for stucco, pretzels for fachwerk, licorice rope for bricks, nerds for flowers, coconut for snow, roasted peanuts for rocks, gumballs & Wasabi-flavored covered nuts for bushes, and black licorice shapes for stepping stones!  Complete with a snowman out front, a wilkommen sign over the door, and a caramel-molded dachshund in the front yard!  

The next day our caramel wiener dog had sunk down to the ground and looked like a dead dog in the yard!  Lesson Learned: caramel is not as good as tootsie roll for molding shapes! 

Which one is your favorite?

[honestly, no feelings hurt!]

Snail-Mail Christmas Cards

I love the tradition of getting Christmas cards mailed to your home every year!  Yeah, people don't use snail-mail as often anymore with the existence of e-cards and evites.  Yet, for the holidays, the tradition still seems to be strong.  Sites like Shutterfly, Minted, Snapfish, Cardstore, Pear Tree, Paper Culture, Tiny Prints, and Pixingo help keep the spirit of receiving cute physical cards alive.

  



[PS- Holiday Discounts I found in my Real Simple magazine: 25% off paperculture.com/holiday, 10% off minted.com/realsimple, 15% off pear tree promo code: REAL]

  

Here is our 2011 Frets family card:

[designed through shutterfly]

inside:

back:

We all dressed in purple with either our K-State or TCU gear on!  We've become a split family, but at least it's all the same color scheme! We've been giving my mom a hard time since she spelled Kyle's dog's name wrong [it's 'Khloe'] and they had already been ordered!

Here are some of my favorites from that photo-shoot:

And some of the outtakes!!!

mom & I get carried away when we have pom-poms!

When it comes to the question of what to do with all of your saved cards that year... [especially the christmas letters everyone sends] we've been a little stumped.  My mom could never bring herself to throwing them away so we've accumulated boxes of them labeled by the year in our storage room.  

A friend suggested putting them in a photo album where you can arrange them how you like.  This is what I've done for the past two years, but it bothered me that you could only view one side of the cards without getting them out, since some open or are front/back.

Her family card was the first one we received this year!...I love the colors!

Earlier this year I saw another friend's way of keeping them organized that I felt was perfect for us!  I thought this idea was so cute for people to look through past years, and is especially interactive for kids!

 [I know it's only 2007-2009 shown, those are the first I got to...a little overwhelming when my mom has 2010 all the way back to the early 1990's! But imagine how cute that will be when there is a whole long row of them hanging on stocking hooks from their lower level mantel!]

TO CREATE:

FIRST: I single-hole-punched the top-left corners of all our cards, letters, and photos

 

I wanted to keep it more compact, so I folded the larger letters into these gift sacks from Target I found in the dollar section [or you could use cute little envelopes] and hole-punched the corner

 

SECOND: I strung them all through these large paper clips I bought from Target [they come in a pack of 5] or you could use the thick metal rings that clip together, or ribbon

[making sure to string our family card from that year on top for easily comparing our ever-changing hairstyles and embarrassing phases!]

THIRD: I wrote the year with silver sharpie on some fun scrapbook paper glued on cardstock [so it's a little thicker] with stickers and strung it on the top for a cute label

FOURTH: find a cute place to hang them or table to display them on for years of fun reminiscing!

Let me know if you have any cute ideas or things you do with your cards!