A Recent DIY Project, Art Sold!, and Crazy Beautiful Kids

I apologize for the long- unrelated posts lately- but I figure that I should post a lot since I am not able to post very regularly:)

Having an art show at my house was motivation for me to get my act together and complete a few projects around the house.

Here's a recent ceiling repair that I tackled.  This damage was done from our horribly overdue roof that was (thankfully) replaced this spring.
The eventual plan is to replace the entire ceiling with a thin layer of dry wall- but I thought I'd attempt the "quick fix" option and remove the bad plaster and patch the hole with a piece of drywall cut to size.  Here's what I did:

First I cut the plaster in a rectangle where it was sagging...(using a utility knife)

This was INSANELY messy- I was wearing goggles, a mask and had a vent fan in the window.

Plaster is NOT easy to cut straight (I do not have any experience with this- and I do not have a lot of upper body strength). I'm thinking  hoping  this is something that must get easier the more you do it...

then I purchased a 2'x2' piece of drywall at the local HD ( happened to be assisted by a part-time HD employee- full-time drywall specialist (how lucky was I?!)- he gave me a brief tutorial- and I went from there...

With a utility knife in hand, I scored and snapped the drywall after measuring the opening of the hole- (getting it as close as possible)- also not an easy job...

Then I found the stud under the lath in the ceiling (this wasn't too tough since it was visible when looking through the laths.)  YES- I screwed the drywall in upside down- it's okay though- it still worked out fine!  Oh- and you might notice the large hole in the corner- I ended up adding another small triangle of drywall later- and used a whole bunch of patching compound to fill in the spaces...

After taping the gaps- I applied 3 coats of mud to the seams (letting it dry at least 12 hours in between coats).  Then I sanded it smooth.

Then I applied a coat of oil based primer and a coat of latex ceiling paint (and semi-gloss trim paint to the damaged trim)- and VOILA!!!

The improvement is immense!  Perfect- uhhhh- no- but so much better!

 

Here are the pieces that sold at my show...all going to very good homes:)

and last but not least- the crazy-beautiful children...the baby is Baby B (whose nursery I blogged about here).

Now, the crazy-beautiful children.....I was literally laughing out loud at the antics in my back yard today.

She is a Dancin' Queen (note the reference to last nights Glee:)

 

The hat that sits upon her head on the picture below is what prompted the outfit/character change to "Little Bo Peep"...

Then- we have the little guy- he's a handy man...D had the idea of giving him a "small" drill (sans battery pack)- and the little guy is LOVIN' it.  He drills cars...

and trees...

and, apparently his nose?!

I've had the honor of caring for little B a few days over the past couple weeks while our friends waited for the their new nanny to start. It was a good trial kid #3 for me- and although their were some minor glitches...(tired baby)

in all it was refreshing spending time with a little one again- and watching my babes interact with her was fascinating- I think I could handle another couple;)