Do you dislike your Brass Fireplace Cover?

Then change it!
We wanted to update our fireplace and an easy way to do that is to paint the brass.

Rustoleum has a high heat paint made for grills and other things that get hot. You cannot use this in place where flames will touch the paint because it will burn off.

They also have a spray paint.  But I did not want to have to create a tent like area to spray paint or take the front of the fireplace off the wall.  Sound like too much work for me.


Luckily my mom  had some paint that she was going to use to paint scratches on a grill.

The only problem with the paint is that it is oil based.  Meaning you need to ventilate well.  If you do not the fumes from the paint will burn off in your dryer, oven and fridge.  This causes your house to smell as if you grilled inside of the house.  So I picked the warmest day I could.  I closed the registers and opened the back door.  I figured that I was not painting an entire room, just the brass on the fireplace.


Items Needed for Project

• Rustoleum High Heat Paint
• Paint Brush (that you can throw away or clean with mineral spirits)
• tape (to tape the glass and brick you do not want to get painted)

There was not too much prep work involved besides taping the brick and the glass.  Since I would be putting it on with a brush I did not cover the entire glass (I figured my painting techniques have been perfect by painting our entire house).






After one coat.









After the second coat.




You could also use the spray paint version to make a more uniform job, but there was really no prep work involved doing the paint with a paint brush.

Again here is the before and after!

Did You Know That? (Ventilation and Roofing)

I figured I would pass on my words of wisdom as a new home owner when I learn the information.  I also wanted to include my love of Bill Nye (and you get to learn a fun fact).

So in this "Did You Know That?" post I have an interesting piece of information on ventilation and roofing.  When you think of the thing you want to do to your house your mind usually does not go "Man, I really want to update the ventilation in my house!".  Okay, i'll admit I did but it is because of many factors.  

Our attic was really hot in the summer or really cold in the winter.  No duh Michelle.  I know, but it was beyond hot.  Hot to the point it would make the smoke detector beep on the second floor if it was attached to the ceiling.  Recently we have begun to hear a dripping sound in the attic.  Well, we figured it was the attic because we listened to the walls everywhere else upstairs. 

So we had a roofing company come out because ..... we don't really have ventilation.  We have gable vents at the end of the house to let air flow through, but nothing else.  They also said that our dripping is more than likely caused by an improperly sealed gable vent above our bedroom.  It is causing some of the wood to rot below the vent.  So long story short, the fact of the day is- if you do not have adequate ventilation in your attic the warranty on your shingles on the roof is voided.

Yep, you heard me.  It is code that you have adequate ventilation in your house to keep the roof as cool as possible.  The guy said that are roof was wearing down faster because of inadequate ventilation.  It is also causing some of the wood (soffits) to break down.  So that is why some of the soffits and fascia had to be replaced before the guy sold the house....... interesting.  (I think I might have to start speaking negatively about this man when the neighbors said he took such good care of his house.) Here is a nice video to show you why you need ventilation.

So like the video said, we need to add soffit vents and a ridge vent to allow air to flow through the attic properly.

At the same time he confirmed my suspicion that our bathroom fans did not vent out of the house (this causes the bathroom moisture to be put in the attic with no place to go- aka mold and rot). Awesome.....

So in summary, have proper ventilation on your house.  If you don't know if you have enough, look at your roof and see or call a roofing company.

And hire a good home inspector..................

Until the next time on "Did You Know That?".

Bedroom #3

This was the last room in the house with wallpaper!  It is finally all gone (or painted over).  Here is the room before the paper came down.  It had a bit of a western theme to it. We moved all of the furniture to the now Guest Bedroom to make it easier to take down paper and paint. 

This room took every trick I had (damn last room).  On some walls I used the tiger tool and water and some walls I used DIF.  It took me longer than I was hoping but I was still able to finish on time.  The only wallpaper left is under the blinds.  I would have to take them down to get to it and in essence replace the blind.  Another day Scarlet.

As before, after the paper came down I primed, painted the trim, painted the ceiling, and then painted the room.

                                         Before                                              After

Shrimp Scampi

This is by far my favorite dish to make.  Luckily Chris loves it too.  This is a very quick to make dish that is not full of butter but full of the flavor of lemon and the spiciness of red pepper flakes.

Ingredients

•  spaghetti
• 1 Tbl olive oil
• 1 Tbl garlic
• 1 tsp red pepper flakes (you may want less if you cannot handle spicy things)
• 1/2 C dried parsley
• 3 lemons (juiced- 1 C) 
• Shrimp (enough for two people)
• Parmesan Cheese

Directions

1. Boil your spaghetti according to the directions on the box.
2. Juice your lemons (I have a nifty juicer I got at a garage sale)
3. In a separate pot, heat 1 tablespoon of oil.  When hot, add the garlic and red pepper flakes. The mixture will be a bit dry.  Let it cook for a minute.
4. Add the parsley, shimp and lemon juice.  Let it cook until the pasta is done. (Your sauce should look like the picture on the right)
5. Drain the pasta when it is done.  Put it back in the pot.
6. Stir in the lemon/ spice mixture to the pasta.  Let the pasta sit on the hot stove for a few minutes.  This allows some of the juices to be soaked up by the pasta.  (We think it is much better if you take the time to let it soak in)
7. Serve in a bowl.  Add Parmesan cheese to the top.

Wallpaper Reflections

When we started taking off the wallpaper in the house we did a lot of research into the best methods to take it down.  We tried it all (except for vinegar, Chris hates vinegar).  The main thing that we started with was a bucket of water and Downy.  It helped soak into the wallpaper and smelled good.

Since starting the wallpaper removal I have not been able to smell regular Down without automatically thinking of wallpaper.  I started to not like the smell because it reminded me of wallpaper.

After a while we just started using hot water.  It worked just as well.  On the my last room I decided to try the Downy mixture again to see if it would help me take the paper down quicker.  It did not, but it make the house smell like laundry.

On the day I finished taking it down Chris said something profound.  That even though I don't like the smell, it would bring back a lot of memories.  The countless hours spent this year wetting the walls and stripping paper off.  The transformation of a house from a 1970's mess of wallpaper to a house that we love.  I will never forget what the house looked like.  I have kept a few pieces of wallpaper and put them in a picture frame with a few other mementos of our first year in our home.  But the smell of Downy will always bring me back to the first year we lived in our house. :)

Valentines Day

Today is the day of love. 

 Speaking for Chris and myself, we are so lucky that God helped us find one another (and with the help of Eharmony- yes it worked for us).  It did not take us long before we both realized that we were meant for each other.  After 11 months of dating we got engaged on 11/11/11.  On June 30th, 2012 we got married! Our love story is just beginning as we have many many more Valentines to celebrate!

Here are the Valentines Day memories we have together.

Here we are on Valentines Day 2011. Chris made me dinner at his apartment and gave me a beautiful heart necklace.






On Valentines Day 2012 we were looking at houses.  We did not find the house we live in on Valentines Day, but I am glad we waited!  Afterward we went to Chipotle for dinner where Chris told me we were going to Punta Cana for our Honeymoon!

Next Five Projects

So I finished my first list of Next Five Projects.  And now it is time to list the Next Five.  I thought my last Next Five Projects would have taken me to the end of March, but I seem to be ahead of schedule.

1) Paint Bedroom #3

2) Fix Paint Problems Around the House
Over the course of painting all of the trim and moving furniture from room to room, the walls have got paint on them or they were scratched.  So I want to take some time and touch up all of the paint that needs to be touched up.  Not a big project, but something that will make me feel good at the end.



3) Kitchen Window Treatments
I love the windows that we have in the kitchen.  But I become very aware that people can see in them when I can see into my neighbors houses as well.  So I need to paint the curtain rod on the wall and put up some curtains.  I also want to put up blinds or a cute curtain above the kitchen sink.



4) Paint Fireplace Surround
Not that brass is not in style, but it's not.  So I am going to paint it to update the fireplace a bit.  I have read many an article that says you can use Rustoleum High Heat Paint on the outside.  I will post how to do it/ how it turns out later.




5) White Wash Fireplace
After I finish the fireplace brass I want to lighten the brick.  I don't want to paint it too white, just enough to lighten it but still see the brick. Again, I will post how to do it/ how it comes out later.  I think this will really lighten the room and be beautiful when we get the room finished (at the end of March).

Yes, we were watching Jurassic Park!

Shrimp Etouffee

This is one of my favorite recipes ever.  I got it from a recipe book I got when I was 12 at the Outer Banks.  Everything in this book is delicious.  This just happens to be one of my favorite though.

Here are all of the ingredients for this dish.

I would advise to do all of the prepping before you start cooking.  Put all of the onions and celery in a bowl together, cut up the parsley and take the tails off your shrimp.

This brand of stock is my favorite.  It is endorsed by the American Heart Association (for salt content) and they have chicken broth with low sodium.  This is also the only brand that sells seafood stock.  Honestly, I think the recipe would be fine with chicken stock, but I like to follow the recipe.  You can get all of them at Kroger.

The first step is to melt the butter in the pan and add the flour.  You are making what chef call Roux.

It will look mushy at first.

Just let it cook.  This is the most tedious part of the process.  It will start to thin out and turn brown.  Stir it every once in a while to mix it up.

It is done when it turns a dark brown like this.

You are then going to add your garlic, onions, and celery.  Cook for about 10 minutes.  The smell is amazing!

Next you will add the broth and tomato paste.

Next add the shrimp, parsley, tomatoes, and spices. Cook for about 20 minutes (or until rice is done).

This would be about the time to start prepping boiling water for the rice.

 Serve the Etouffee with a scoop of rice. 

Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

Ingredients

• 1/4 Cup Butter
• 3 Tablespoons flour
• 1/2 Cup Chopped Green Onions
• 1 1/2 Cup Minced Onion
• 1/2 Cup Celery
• 2 Cloves Minced Garlic
• 3 Teaspoon Tomato Paste
• 2 Cups Fish Stock
• 1 Cup Tomatoes
• 2 Cups Crayfish or Shrimp
• 1/4 Chopped Fresh Parsley
• 2 Teaspoons Salt
• 1/2 Teaspoon Pepper
• 3/4 Teaspoon Cayenne Pepper (more if you like it spicy)

Directions

1. Melt butter in large saucepan.
2. Remove from heat, stir in flour and blend until smooth.
3. Return to heat and cook, stirring until roux is a really dark brown.
4. Stir in onions, celery and garlic.
5. Cook for 10 minutes.
6. Mix in tomato paste and fish stock.
7. Stir in tomatoes, shrimp, parsley, salt, black pepper, and cayenne pepper.
8. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes.
9. Serve over rice.

No wallpaper!

This is the last piece to come off the wall!

We have made it to the day that there is no wallpaper ( that you can see) on the walls! I think we may have to celebrate!

Here are some reminders of the wallpaper I have have had to endure taking off the walls!