Friday Foodies...

It's Friday. I'm Filipino. I want a cupcake. Here's the result = Ube cupcake. I hope I have some time this weekend to whip up these bad boys.

Photo: Let me eat cake

3rd Annual Renegade Craft Fair

Omg...I just saw a post for this on decor8 and I hope I can make it out this Sunday!! For all you crafters, designers, artists, DIYers looking for that special piece to finish off a room or to inspire one, this looks like it's the place to be! There will be workshops, food, crafts, & lots of fun! And it's pet friendly!

Are you ready for the next big QUAKE?

Katy Perry got it totally right when she released her hit song, "California Girls". However, all the bikinis, tankinis, and martinis will not take away the fact that there are Earthquakes in California.

Our new house is about 3 miles from the Hayward fault line, which, according to seismologists, is "due" for its next big quake. Yikes! When we bought the house, my sister (a civil engineer) made sure that I asked all the right questions about what reinforcements were put into the building of our house to sustain an earthquake.

So, naturally, when we purchased a flat screen TV for the living room, Jay wanted peace of mind, that should there be an earthquake and we weren't home, his baby would be safe and sound and not shattered on the floor in a million pieces!

After doing some research he went out and bought Quakehold! Safety Fasteners.


Now inside of the box there was a sample of Quakehold museum putty. I didn't even know this until we redid the bathroom downstairs.

As I was putting the finishing touches on the newly striped bathroom, Jay came in and saw my refurbished salad dressing bottle filled with sand and dried flowers sitting pretty on top of the toilet. He immediately became dismayed. He went on to say, how it wasn't safe and people would knock it over, blah, blah, blah...But I didn't want to budge. Then he disappeared into the garage and came back with a huge smile on his face! And I knew he had found us a solution.

This stuff is super duper strong. It really took A LOT of effort to remove the bottle from the toilet. I was able to lift the bottle and up came the toilet bowl cover with it! The best part about this putty is that it does not damage your surfaces and is totally reusable! So if you have the special vase from Aunt Vesta that you don't want tipping over during the next quake run out and get some Quakehold museum putty today!

Black, White, & Glittery Gourds...

Nothing makes me giddier than, to plan, decorate, or host a party, and make sure everyone has a grand ole time! Jay's Grandma will be celebrating her 83rd birthday this coming December, so the family is planning a wonderful birthday party for her complete with dinner and dancing! They were looking for volunteers to do flowers and tabletop decorations, so of course, I immediately threw my hand in the air!

Being it would be in competition with Christmas decor and season, I wanted to do something elegant, vintage, and sparkly while still incorporating seasonal items! Here's the collage I made using bighugelabs.com.

Jay's cousin Jessica (whom I can thank for introducing me to Jay, but that's another post in itself!) jumped in to help me with the decor. With a budget of $200, we plan on making a fabulous and beautiful event for Grandma to remember!

Lane Cedar Chest Facelift

While Dumpster Diving (as Jay likes to call it) at the Goodwill in Alameda, I found this beautiful Lane Cedar Chest in perfect condition! As soon as, I walked in, saw it to my left and walked straight to the sales register to claim it! It was $25!! Can you believe it?!

I had no idea where to even begin. Luckily, Jay took great interest in taking on this project with me and he did all the research and bought all the necessary equipment. I told him my vision and he delivered! All I had to do was show up to put in some work! Jay bought a Skil 1/4 Palm sander and some 40 grit sandpaper to strip off the old stain.

Here's what it looks like when it was stripped naked of its original finish. The left side is the original stain and underneath the cedar wood was just beautiful!

Before we placed any product on the chest, we went over the entire chest with a 180 grit sand paper, to smooth out the surface in preparation for the staining.

• Here is the materials we used: Minwax Wood Finish Stain in Ebony, Minwax Pre-stain Wood Conditioner, Minwax wipe on Polyurethane, & Elmer's Probond wood filler.
  

• First the Pre-Stain: Doesn't it look great just like this? I love the look of the woodgrain and the natural cedar color.
  

• We lifted the chest onto our recycling bin placed a drop cloth underneath it and we were able to go around the chest with the first coat of stain without it getting directly onto our garage floor!:

• Here is what it looked like after we applied the first coat of stain and then wiped off the excess. Minwax has step by step directions on their website.
  

We applied 2 more coats of stain to achieve the desired result. Of course with 4-6 hours drying time in between each coat, this is not necessary a project you can complete in one day. And here it is in all its glory in its new home our living room! It serves as a great storage compartment for our pillows and throw blankets and as extra seating as well!

Garage Floor Epoxy Coating

Back in December 2009, when we first got the keys to our brand new home, the VERY first thing we HAD to do (according to Jay), was to put an epoxy coating on the garage floor. Since we had the lease on our apartment until the end of the month, we were in no rush to immediately move in. So, this gave us time to do the garage floors and paint the inside of the house.

This was Jay's baby. I had no idea what epoxy was. Were they a brand of surf clothes like Roxy? This was "guy" stuff. Clearly, not something I would have found out on my own. After much research, Jay decided on the Rust-Oleum EPOXY SHIELD Garage Floor Coating and Premium Clear Coating.

And so it began. It was in the middle of winter, and ideally, you would want to do this when the weather is between 60-85 degrees. Clearly that was not the case. So, drying time was much longer, than anticipated. We pretty much followed directions exactly as written. And just to be cautious of any spilled water or drinks, we bought the Anti-slip additive.

Jay painted and I was the designated "sprinkler". He bought me a hand held garden seeder, to ensure that I would sprinkle evenly. It worked out quite well. Of course this didn't stop me from occasionally prancing around and sprinkling like a fairy!

And here it is in all its glory! I can honestly say having an Epoxy coating in the garage, makes a HUGE difference. It really warms up the space, making it great for entertaining and clean up is very easy with a mop and Mr. Clean.

Painting Stripes...

I love the blog YoungHouseLove.com. I don't remember how I stumbled upon it, but when I did, I was hooked. Basically, its about a young couple who bought a house, got married, fixed up their new house and blogged about it. Their tutorials are very detailed and easy to follow and their home is cute as a button!

When I saw the stripes that they painted in their bathroom, I was sold. I LOVE stripes. I wear stripes at least once a week. I am drawn to stripes on dresses, shirts, socks, prints, underwear...you get the point.

The entire project took me and the hubby 1 day. Our walls were already Swiss Coffee, so we went two shades darker with Behr Sandstone Cove in a semi-gloss.We followed their tutorial, with the exception of removing the tape after the second coat. We have textured drywall, so no matter what, we wouldn't be able to get a perfect line. After removing the tape, we went in and touched up the lines with a fine artists brush. Tedious, but oddly relaxing at the same time!


After painting the bathroom, we decided the standard oval shaped mirror that came with the house wouldn't do justice to our newly painted stripes. So, we were off to Home Depot and found a white framed mirror for $60!

When it came to what art work we would use in the bathroom, I went through my portfolio of black and white photos I had developed a few years ago, and decided to use a solo picture of my Shih tzu, Miyagi (RIP). Jay & I have been contemplating for awhile if we should get a dog, but are still on the fence about it, so we decided to do a dog-themed bathroom, to get our fix!

For the frames I painted them all in Swiss Coffee with the exception of one. I bought some scrapbook paper from Michael's to use as the background and printed out the silhouette of the Pug and Boston terrier online, cut them out, and pasted them to the paper. And oh...that succulent, is actually fake! Since I don't have any windows in that bathroom a real plant wouldn't thrive in such a dark space.

And lastly, this is a wedding card I had originally bought to give to a couple, but decided to keep, since I loved it so much!

Simply Succulents

Last year my great-aunt gave me a few clippings of some Imperial Jade and Ghost Plant to grow on my own. She has huge planters full of these succulents that adorn the front of her house. All she said I needed to do, was stick it in some soil and it will grow.

Well, it didn't quite go so well for me. First, I didn't realize that I was overwatering my Imperial Jade and this is a definite, "no, no", when it comes to these plants, as they do not like moist soil and can actually thrive on neglect! So, being overly nurturing was definitely not necessary. I was killing my plant!

My ghost plants are the only ones that survived my move from the apartment to the new house and are thriving quite nicely on my front porch. They have about 4 full hours of direct sunlight in the morning. I placed a layer of sand over the top of the soil and with this pot, I just place water in the bottom of the pot, so the soil does not stay moist.

After seeing a clip on Martha Stewart about succulent terrariums, I decided to venture out and try to make one of my own. I had a hard time finding cactus soil, so I went with Miracle-Gro Moisture Control Potting Soil and it worked just as effectively. I bought the sand from Ikea in a white and blue/grey tone, and used the gravel and glass vase that I had lying around the house.

This one is planted in a regular pot. I placed a layer of gravel at the bottom to ensure proper drainage, and planted about 4 different types of succulents. To make the colors pop, I added a top layer of white sand.

So, if you are looking for a great houseplant, that is drought resistant, thrives on being neglected, and doesn't need to be watered on a regular basis...Succulents are the plants for you!

Powder Room Hutch Redo

I nabbed this corner hutch at a Salvation Army during President's Day weekend. It was perfect for my downstairs powder room. The space is a large square, so I needed something to fill up the space, give my guests something to look at, and storage for toilet paper!

So with a bit of sand paper and a pint of Behr Swiss Coffee semi-gloss paint, two coats later, voila! This ruddy brown corner hutch, turned out beautiful and perfect!

Let's get this party started...

So I've been wanting to start a blog for the LONGEST time, but never got around to it...In December 2009, we bought a house, packed up our 700 sq. ft apartment (I know we were living inside a closet), painted the inside of the new house, then unpacked, bought furniture, accessorized, organized, purged some more...you name it, we did it.

My hubby and I are the DIY (do-it-yourself) kind of couple, and being the blog surfer I am, I love to find new and exciting things to create a unique living space that me and my hubby love!

I am a lover of all things beautiful, unique, kitschy, old, and new. I like to cook, eat, create, decorate, entertain, explore and spend time with the ones I love.

The Mariano Project is my science experiment on what works and what doesn't work to create a beautiful life and home!