Bathroom Facelift - Privacy Lace Applique to Windows

Our bathroom facelift is going quite well. It is our Christmas present to each other and we will probably be done by the end of the week.  Today Steve took care of grinding off any lumps of glue after removing the plastic tiles. He used a power oscillating tool with the flat knife edge.

While he did that, I was busy down in the basement doing the final coats on the beadboards and trim. I think it is going quite well.  I just finished the polyurethane this evening after double and triple checking that the stain colors are right.

I think it takes a special knack to get just the right colors when trying to match the patina of the old wood.  Being 103 years old, it has the golden undertones from the naturally aging pine, which is tough to match.  Then the reddish orange of the stain plus the darkened areas of brown over the years due to aging varnish.  I think I got it pretty danged close!

 (here is an original door in our kitchen with the same coloring) 

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While I am waiting for the poly to dry, I spent the rest of the day working on a few other projects.  Here is the old medicine cabinet that I bought off the Facebook Marketplace for $10. A lady had already sanded it down and then changed her mind on finishing it.  She also broke the mirror.  No problem, our son works for a glass company and ordered a new beveled mirror for me! Thanks, Dan!

I touched up the sanding a bit more, removed the latch and got it ready to stain. I laid a piece of tin foil between the inside box and the front face of the cabinet.  Once the outside stain and poly are done, then I can remove the tin foil and give the inside a fresh coat of white paint.

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While that was drying, I popped a pot roast in the electric pressure cooker, so supper would be done in time when Steve got home, and I could keep playing with my next project! 

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I saw this technique a while back on Facebook and saved the link: 

http://www.littlethings.com/lace-window-treatment/


I did this technique on the french doors between our dining room and my Loom Room. Now that I know how well it works, I am going to do it to our window in the upstairs bathroom.  Here is a blog post of when I did those: 


Adding Lace Applique to French Doors



By using the simple cornstarch and water solution in the instructions shared above, I will adhere the lace to each section of glass.  If I tire of it or do not like the outcome, I can just wash it off with warm water to remove it. 


I found some lace in a thrift shop, from a set of curtain valances.  I wanted something with a bit of pattern to it, not just flowers willy nilly all over. I was happy with these, and it cost me a whole $1.00 !

I removed the stitching of the rod pocket so I could use that part of the lace as well. I needed 2 pieces each 22 1/2 inches by 13 5/8 inches. I carefully cut 2 pieces of the lace, lining up the motifs so each window pane is same.  I starched each one to stiffen them up to make them easier to work with.

 Now it was time to mix up the recipe.. this is amazing!  I gathered my supplies:

Take 4 tablespoons of water and 4 tablespoons of powdered corn starch... (I suggest a large 4 cup pyrex mixing cup) ... mix them up until dissolved and it is a watery liquid similar to milk.  Okayyyyyy

Now, in a separate measuring cup, heat up 1 and a half cups of water until boiling!   I used the microwave about 4 minutes.  Pour the boiling water into the milky blend and stir stir stir!  It instantly makes a thick gel!  Like soft pudding!   Amazing!!!

That is enough to do two 13x23 window panes.

In the instructions on that Facebook link above, she used a bristle brush to apply the gelatinous solution to the glass. Sometimes those type of brushes lose bristles. Instead, I chose foam brushes.  I covered the flooring and windowsill underneath with a thick towel to catch drips, and I had a roll of papertowels at the standby in case I needed them.  

Next I started to brush on the gel----

Wow! This was really easy! 

It was not too messy and I worked one pane of glass at a time.

Start the lace carefully at the corner and spread the lace upwards and across.

I would say to be sure your lace is cut to the exact size, because once it is on the glass, you really can not trim it at all.

I found that once I set the lace flat on the window, I could easily press it into place on the thick gel. I could hold it in place on the edge with my fingernail while brushing gently sideways with more of the gel on the top of lace.  The gel is warm, so you have to work kinda fast to keep it thin enough to brush over the lace. It thickens as it cools.

Easy clean up and I would suggest that you use a paper towel to swab all the leftover concoction into the garbage can, as opposed to rinsing it down the sink. It may clog your drain as it cools down and thickens.

Then just toss the foam brushes away.

It's hard to take a pic in the daylight
because the camera keeps adjusting to the light,
and doesn't focus on the lace pattern.
My eye sees it, but the camera doesn't.

Now I stood back to admire my work:

As it dries, it gets more translucent.

I added some taters and carrots to the pressure cooker and set it for another 15 minutes. Supper was done and I was able to work on projects all afternoon.  I LOVE my electric pressure cooker. My friend Linda just bought one and now my friend Rosie is going to get one, once she decides how big or small she needs. 

I went back upstairs after supper to see about taking pics of the lace covered window at night. Much nicer!  It shows the detail better.  

On our house, we have outside storm windows, and then the old lovely wooden windows and frames, and we also added some inside storm windows that slide into place for the winter, and come off and store in the closet for summer.  That is what the solid pane of glass is. This helps with the heat bill, and is a compromise because Steve wants to rip out all the old windows and put in new ones!!! ACKKKK NO!

Speaking of the old wooden windows and frames...  Over the 103 years, there was a lot of different curtain and window shade hardware attached to the woodwork.  I took the brackets off now that we have the lace on the glass for privacy. My job tomorrow will be to carefully fill the holes with a matching wood putty, and clean up the surface, and touch up with some stain and poly. Since I already have it mixed to the right color, it should blend in well. I hope. 

As for my new window covering????

  I love it!!!

Added P.S. ... today is the Third Anniversary of Binney's "Gotcha Day" !!!  The day we adopted her through the combined efforts of the Michigan and Wisconsin Sheltie Rescue groups.  

Three years ago today, this little girl found her *furever* home with us! Thank you to Michigan Sheltie Rescue, Robin Matthews and Carol Sorweide for getting her healthy from the skin and bones heartworm ridden dog she was at the time of the raid on the hoarder. 

Then thanks to Virginia Halverson for transporting her here and Lisa Martin with the Wisconsin Sheltie Rescue for trusting us to take care of her. Finney and Binney bonded instantly and are inseparable best buddies now~  

She seems so happy to have a house of her own, windows to look out of (they were shut into closets and boarded up rooms)  and fresh air, plenty of food, sunshine and all of the things a good little doggie deserves! 

"YOU'VE COME A LONG WAY BABY!" Sassy feisty little girl Binney today. When we got her, she was a scared little timid thing huddled in the corner, her "safe spot". She didn't know about toys or walks or having fun fun fun!

Happy Gotcha Day Anniversary, Binney,

Here is to many many more!!

MOTORHOME MODIFICATIONS - *I* Isolator and Lace

I am going to start off the new year with posting some of our motorhome modifications, a few at a time. I will post repairs, modifications, or neato things we have found for RVing.  I have lots of pics in my files so I will do them in alphabetical order.

Underneath that stuff, I will post my regular daily stuff..... kinda sorta fun, eh?

So here it goes, we are up to the letter I now!

MOTORHOME MODIFICATIONS 

STARTING WITH THE LETTER I

Isolator:

When we were having alternator troubles, along with our inverter fluctuating up and down, it was not good.  We were told by the alternator rebuilder guy to check our isolator... because *something* was backfeeding into our electrical system and burning out the alternators....

That had me really worried, because it was harming our inverter (a device that changes 12v DC power to 110V AC power) we use it to run things like our tv's, some of the lights, our coffee maker and grinder, curling iron etc.  We can do without them, but it makes it much more comfortable to have them on board. Replacing the 2000 watt inverter would cost more than all three other repairs we had done combined! The water pump, the alternator and the isolator are small potatoes compared to a 2000 watt inverter! About $1,800-2,000 to replace. ACK!

We tested our isolator with a voltage meter and detected some inconsistencies between the posts. It was not isolating the charges correctely and seemed to be bleeding between posts inside somewhere and not working right.

Sooooooooo  We ordered a new one! 

The mail-lady brought Steveio his nice big box with his isolator!   

This is a Happy Man! 

The isolator has to be larger than the alternator's amp output.

So even if the old isolator had been good, we would have had to change it anyhow

to meet the higher output from the new alternator we had just installed.

Here is the old isolator... it is mounted on the wall in the engine compartment which is open to the dusty road and dirty diesel engine.  That is probably 20 years of accumulated dirt on it. LOL... If there was a better spot to relocate it to, Steve will think about it.  For now, he would just mount it where the old one is and use the same cables and wires.

 He held the new one over the area where it would go...

 just so I could take a pic! 

Imagine that.. a man reading INSTRUCTIONS! 

He doesn't do that too often.  

But he had to be sure or else ruin both the isolator and alternator,

and probably our inverter too? 

 He hooked up the wires and double checked and triple checked each one....

•  2 wires on the left are to the chassis batteries and solenoid boost switch on the dash...
•  (next post is skipped)
•  the center post is the alternator and the engine clock. 
• The far right post is for the chassis (house) batteries.

Steve then took out his voltage meter and tested while I fired up the engine. 

I was ready to turn it off if anything was wrong or arcing or heating up. 

Soooo we fired it up

and all systems are GO! 

What a beautiful sight on our Silverleaf readout display.!!!

Everything is working properly... even the inverter!  

Whatever was back-feeding with the old isolator is now corrected.
Whew.... we don't have to replace the inverter now.

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Today we ran out for a morning breakfast together. Since Steve started driving for the county in the Old Fart Party Bus, we have not has as many mornings to sit around and enjoy ourselves.  We hit up the Piggly Wiggly grocery store for the sales, and then two thrift shops for a few bargains.

He took off to work about 1 and I ambled up to my sewing machine. A while back I had bought some of this great lace fabric with sewing/spinning/log cabin motifs.  I used up some of them to make these great panels stuck to the french door panes with a cornstarch and water mix recipe.   Here is the blog post I did about making them:

Adding Lace Applique to French Doors

I decided to take the time to measure up  the windows in my loom room and make curtains from the rest of the lace.  The window in that room needed some miniblinds too. We bought some last week and Steve had already installed them over the weekend. Two smaller 40 inch ones were not only cheaper than a big 80 inch one, but also it's lighter to lower and raise each half instead of a long one.

New miniblinds are cordless now, who knew?  You pull them down, and then when you want them up you just push up and they easily retract. neato!  No cords to dangle and tangle! 

I was busy up in my sewing room with my fancy lace.  I cut the lace panels just so. thus making complete squares of motif blocks to start at the top after making the casing, and also end at the bottom of a panel with a thin hem. I also made a couple center valance panels too. 

When I went down to hang them up in the Loom Room, I saw the rod was three inches too low (or I had made the curtains three inches too long??? Naw.....)   

So when Steve got home, I set him to work raising the rod brackets up three inches!   I could have done it myself, but he was there and underfoot, so I put him to work with the HoneyDo Project.  hahahahaha

He was busy up on the ladder while I ironed the final panels to hang them up wrinkle free....  Then I brought them down and he helped slide them onto the rod.  Then he realized he had to lower the center support bracket to make it level.

AHHHHH I really liked how they came out! 

You don't see the design of each separate motif as much,

but they do match the panels on the french doors on the opposite wall.

With the min blinds in place, now I can turn them down a bit on really sunny days when I am in there weaving. This window faces south and this room heats up fast. In the winter it is great, but in the summer months it almost gets unbearable, even with the central air on. This will make a great improvement!

Now.. for the extra lace.  I have looked all over the internet to see who sells lace like this. I can not find it anywhere, so it might be a *one of a kind* thing.  

And last of all, I would like to end up this blog saying Happy Birthday to our son, Mike, in Heaven.

He would be 33 today and we miss him. Each family gathering and holiday, I feel the loss of one more adult child with a spouse and maybe more grandchildren to love.

• I think of his smile and his silly cowboy boots and his willingness to help Steve with whatever he wanted to work on. 
• I think of the sports games he and his brother Dan would play in, while we all sat in the stands to cheer them on. 
• I smile and think of taking him shopping for his first aftershave, or sewing up the rips in his corduroy pants. For the longest time he hated wearing blue jeans.  
• I think of the special bond he had with our youngest daughter Heather and how she proudly drove his old beater car around for a whole year after he passed away.   
• I think of how all four teens would argue and pester each other, but Mike loved it when Erin would bring along friends of hers camping so he could hang out with some really cool chicks from the Big City of Green Bay!
• I think of the time he bought me a Kit Kat from the gas station on his way home for an Xmas present, not having a lot of cash, but knowing it was my favorite. 

We miss you Mike. 

Yes, we do.