DIY: Christmas Book Advent Calendar

I have spent way longer than most people should, trying to figure out what advent calendar tradition I wanted to start with Olivia. I always had an advent calendar growing up where you would take plush ornaments out of their numbered pockets and place them on a velcro tree. It was alway so exciting to countdown to my favorite day of the year. I tried to find something similar, but nothing was really to my liking. I found several ideas where you get a gift or candy each day, but with an (almost) 10 month old, she doesn’t really need (or care about) trinkets or sugar.

Then I thought about what she does enjoy: BOOKS! So I started making .a list of my favorite Christmas / holiday / winter themed books, and then researched some recommendations from friends and other bloggers. I wanted all of the books to follow suit with the rest of her library in which they all have a thoughtful message and are beautifully illustrated.

Obviously there are 100 versions of The Twelve Days of Christmas, but I was very particular about which version I ended up choosing based on the illustrations. Or with The Mitten, I chose the version that I remember reading as a child.

The Nutcracker | The Polar Express | The Little Drummer Boy | The Twelve Days of Christmas  | White Snow Bright Snow | The ABCs of Christmas | Merry Christmas Ernest and Celestine | The Very First Christmas | Olive the Other Reindeer | Kangaroo for Christmas | The Mitten | Red and Lulu | The Night Before Christmas** | Mice Skating | Madeline’s Christmas | S is for Santa | The Little Reindeer | Olivia Helps with Christmas | When Santa Was a Baby | How the Grinch Stole Christmas | A Wish to Be a Christmas Tree | Last Stop on the Reindeer Express | Pick a Pine Tree | If You Take a Mouse to the Movies | Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

** Fun fact: I had this exact 1988 version of The Night Before Christmas growing up, and had been searching all over Amazon and Ebay for it, but it was a zillion dollars. When one day I was perusing a random Christmas book cart at Half Price Books and there it was! For a whopping $4. All of the pop ups are completely intact. I couldn’t believe it.

I used white paper to wrap each book as I wanted to keep them all simple and uniform. Then I printed out numbers on label paper and stuck them to each wrapped book. Pretty simple stuff. I didn’t wrap these in any particular order, and plan to mix them up each year which I’m hoping will build the anticipation to unwrap her favorites. However, I did make sure that The Twelve Days of Christmas is opened on the 12th day of December, that The Night Before Christmas is opened on Christmas Eve, and The Little Drummer Boy is opened on Christmas Day. Other than that, totally random.

Obviously there are more than 25 amazing Christmas books, so I also have a backup list I can choose from when I start to rotate out some of the younger titles. Also, as she gets older I plan to include the actual Nutcracker and A Christmas Carol, but I personally feel like they are a little to scary for her. Did anyone else have nightmares about sword fighting mice? Just me? Cool.

I am so excited to start this tradition with Olivia, and share in the magic of the season. What type of advent calendar do you like to use?

The Kitchen Reveal: Countertops + Hardware

In case you missed Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV, and Part V of our kitchen renovation saga be sure and check them out before we dive into the installation of our quartz countertops, sink, and hardware.

Once all of our cabinets were in place, we had to make sure they were completely level before we could have our countertops installed. I mean they looked level to the naked eye, but with an 88 year old house you can never be too sure.

We used a laser level all around the room and then had our friend Brooks shim each cabinet so that it was perfectly level before adding the toe kicks back on. This was quite the process.

Once everything was level we had our countertop installers come and do their thing. We used A1 Stone for any locals wondering, and they did a fantastic job. We have recommended them to all of our clients. They came in and used their laser level to make sure everything was perfectly level, and it was phew! Then they measured everything and took our sink with them to have the hole precut and the sink glued in place which made the overall installation take only an hour or so. 

The countertop we ended up choosing was Wilsonart Quartz in Marrara. We loved the idea of quartz because it is a fraction of the price of granite or marble, it doesn't stain, it doesn't have to be constantly sealed, it's super easy to clean, and it's a real stone mixed with manmade materials which made us feel better about our impact on the environment. The only downside to quartz is that you can't put a hot pan on it, but we don't really have the need to do that so it hasn't really affected us. I used my designer connections to get quite the deal on this countertop (shoutout to Zane from Wilsonart!)

We chose the 3cm thickness in order to avoid having a false 1.5" edge wrapping plywood. This is solid quartz all the way through. We also chose a square edge for a more modern look. 

We LOVE our sink. We wanted a nice deep single basin sink to hide all of the dirty dishes when we're feeling lazy. It was difficult to find a sink with square edges (most are round or curved), but we scored our Elkay Crosstown sink at Lowes. 

They cut out the hole for our faucet on site. We wanted a matte black faucet that looked kind of commercial, and just about flipped when we came across this Vigo Edison faucet. It has an option to spray or flow normally, which is great when washing dishes. Or Geoffrey. 

The other (and probably most) exciting part about having our countertops installed is that we could finally hook up our new dishwasher. Derek and I have never had a dishwasher in any apartment or house that we've lived in together. Never. This was a game changer. I was so excited to wash all of our dishes that had been packed away during the renovation. Six month baby bump and all.

For the hardware we wanted something super modern and clean, and also matte black to match the faucet and light fixtures. I was about to shell out a zillion dollars at Schoolhouse when I came across these guys on ebay. We chose the 12 3/5" size. At about $4.60 a pop we couldn't be happier. I just love how they turn back and there isn't anything sticking out to catch your pockets on. They just look clean.

We made a handy little template for all of the drawers, and then did the same for all of the doors. We wanted all of the drawer hardware to be centered on the top shaker panel.

Derek's dad was in town and we put him to work. He and Derek lined up the template on each drawer and used a center punch to mark where each hole would be drilled, while I followed them installing all of the hardware. 

For the doors, we wanted the top of each pull to line up with the bottom edge of the top shaker panel. 

We used a Rev-A-Shelf conversion kit to turn two of the doors into drawers for our trash and recycling bins. Their system is incredibly easy to use, and then we ordered two of the Rev-A-shelf trash bins which fit perfectly. They are a little smaller than your average kitchen trash bin, so you have to empty them more often, but not having to see (and smell) freestanding trash / recycling bins was totally worth it. Aside from the dishwasher this was probably my favorite part of this entire project. 

Stay tuned for Part VII of our kitchen renovation saga where I'll share how Derek fabricated the steel backsplash and custom upper cabinets. 

The Kitchen Reveal: Our Not So Custom Cabinets

In case you missed Part I, Part II, Part III, and Part IV of our kitchen renovation saga be sure and check them out before we dive into our not so custom (but customized) cabinets.

We had been vacilating over Ikea cabinets or Home Depot / Lowes custom cabinets for our new kitchen. We knew we wanted shaker style doors and drawers with soft close hinges and glides. This pretty much only left some pretty pricey options. Even the off the shelf cabinets from the big box stores didn't have soft close hardware, and the Ikea ones were still made of particle board. We were starting to feel pretty defeated that we were going to have to shell out a lot of dough for our cabinets. Until one weekend when we went to our local Habitat Restore to pick up our interior doors for this project. We came across white shaker kitchen cabinets that were solid wood, dovetail joinery, had soft close hardware, and came already painted. I know what you're thinking "um used cabinets?" No. These were still in their original boxes unassembled and they had every size imaginable for a fraction of what we thought we were going to have to spend. 

While these were already painted white and had a nice finish coat on them, we still wanted to paint them our olive color. So after doing a little inventory we figured out that we would need the following: five 32" base cabinets with two doors and a single drawer, one 30" base cabinet with two doors and a single drawer, one 36" sink base cabinet with two doors a false drawer and an open back for plumbing, and one 18" set of three drawers.

Then we loaded up the car and were on our way. The cabinets all together came out to be around $1000.

We spent the next few days assembling the cabinet carcasses and leaving off the doors and drawers (which we planned to paint). We glued each piece in place to make them even stronger. No turning back now! 

I mean check out my form. Professional cabinet builder right here. And 3 months pregnant ha.

We were so pleased with the quality of these cabinets and their ease of assembly. And for the price we paid we seriously couldn't be happier. 

Then came the hard part. Now had we chosen to stay with white cabinets we could have saved all of this time and effort, but we both still think it was worth it in the end to get our beautiful olive color. 

We laid out all of the doors, drawer faces, toe kicks, and front frames and sanded them with 100 grit sandpaper to roughen up the finished coat that had been applied to them at the factory. This part was the most tedious. After we sanded we used tack clothes to remove any dust from sanding. Even the smallest spec would ruin our paint job.

We used our (favorite) Graco sprayer to spray each of the doors, drawer faces, toe kicks, and frames. 

We ended up doing three coats of paint, and in between each coat we sanded and used the tack cloth. This method helped us build up a nice and durable finish, which is so important in a high use area like a kitchen. 

It seriously looks exactly like the white that was painted at the factory, but olive ha. 

Once all of the doors, drawer faces, toe kicks, and frames were dry we installed them onto their corresponding base cabinets, and glued each piece into place.

Once all of our base cabinets were ready, we moved our appliances into place and started placing each cabinet where it would be. 

We left the toe kicks off for the time being because we knew how unlevel our floors and walls are (88 year old house), so we wanted to be able to shim any of the gaps in order to create a level enough surface for our countertops. 

We left a space where the dishwasher would be located because we weren't going to install it until the countertops were in and the plumbing was wrapped up. I was so excited to have kitchen storage again that I started unpacking as much of the kitchen as I could (hence the toaster and lunchbox you see) so that as soon as the counters and sink went in we could use our kitchen again. 

Stay tuned for Part VI of our kitchen renovation saga where I'll share how we scored free quartz countertops (designer perks) and installed our cabinet hardware. 

The Kitchen Reveal: #demoday

In case you missed Part I, Part II, and Part III of our kitchen renovation saga be sure and check them out before we dive into #demoday.

So now that the plans were well underway, it was time to get the sledgehammer out and basically gut the entire space so that we could start with a clean slate. A shoutout to our friend Max who helped with a lot of the demo as payback for when Derek helped demo their kitchen. What are friends for right? As we removed all of the doors and drawers you can see some more of the quirky custom details, and the previous vinyl flooring as a shelf liner under the sink. Why?

See? Literally no backs to any of the cabinets. And that is an exterior wall. So many opportunities for critters ugh.

We finally opened the top upper cabinets where we uncovered some water damage and luckily no dead bodies. 

And more water damage. 

As we pulled off the gyp we uncovered some retro wallpaper that was backed with fabric. It almost turned to dust as I scraped it off and it was nailed into place, not glued. Nailed.

We've actually uncovered a lot of areas of our house that used to be this green color. Apparently all of the door and window trim was green at one time. Wow.

That water damage on the far left made us wonder if the original 1930 kitchen had a freestanding sink in the corner like this guy. 

So once we uncovered this portion of the kitchen, things got a little scary. 

Do you see the light from outside? Its like everything was just puzzle-pieced together in this house. And yes. That debris all over the floor was a bunch of pecan shells and rats nests. Awesome.

Speaking of awesome. Look at what a great job our previous contractor did when closing in the bedroom door. This was all gyp'd over by the time we came home and saw it (and signed off on it) so we had no idea. That is literally a 2x4 post with three 2x4s nailed to it. None of which were attached to any framing. It was all just loosey goosey hanging out behind the gyp. No wonder there was a huge crack and wall buckling when the foundation was replaced. This was so scary to find. 

Because the tile installer tiled up to the old cabinets there was a big recess in the floor where the cabinets once were. Derek filled in that gap with pressure treated plywood to bring it up to the same level as the tile. We had to do this on both sides where the lower cabinets used to be. 

Originally we thought it might be cool to just paint the lath (shiplap) once we started seeing how great of condition it was in. That is until we got to this wall where it was again just puzzle-pieced together. What a shame. Also on the sink wall most of it was missing so we'd have to replace it which would make it look even more hodgepodge. Also from a air conditioning / insect control standpoint, leaving exposed lath on an exterior wall is never a great idea. The more layers of insulation the better.

Once all of the walls were down to lath, we had our electrician come in and add outlets where we wanted them and then Derek removed the ones we didn't need anymore. We also had them add a junction box for the barn light above the sink and converted the boob light to a quad outlet for our pendant lights over the island. We had them switch everything so that the pendants and barn light were separate from the can lights. You know. Mood lighting. We also had them add an outlet for the new fridge and oven location. We had our plumber come in and add a water line for the dishwasher and relocate the gas line for the oven. Both of those trades were probably the most expensive parts of this whole renovation. 

Derek added more lath pieces and properly filled in the previous door to our bedroom. He focused mostly on making sure there was lath along the top half of it, as that would be where all the strength would come from for holding the upper cabinets. 

Once each wall was structurally sound (as much as it could be) we installed fresh new gyp on all walls. 

Okay do you see how the PVC vent pipe for the sink comes up from the ground and then elbows to the right and then up again? Whenever this update was made and the sink was relocated to under the window, the previous owner cut out all of the vertical studs to run the PVC tubing. Which meant that you could push on the wall and it would wiggle. A lot.

So our friend Max helped Derek remove the PVC vent and our plumber rerouted it straight out the side of the house rather than snaking it through the wall. You can see where the original studs were cut and just hanging out. Attached to nothing. So freaky. 

Derek and Max then went in and installed all new studs to add strength back on this side of the kitchen, and then covered them with new lath.

Once all of the new lath was added, we started adding gyp along the bottom half where the lower cabinets would be, and then hardi backerboard along the top half where the tile backsplash would be. By "we" I mean Derek. I was 3 months pregnant. 

Once gyp was installed and pieced together, Derek went around and taped and floated all of the gyp.

He then textured all of the new gyp (which I don't have a photo of because it was very messy), and we painted all of the walls our favorite Passive by Sherwin Williams. 

Stay tuned for Part V of our kitchen renovation saga where I'll share the cabinets we scored for a steal of a deal and how we made them fit into our design.

The Kitchen Reveal: Lighting Up the Joint

In case you missed Part I and Part II of our kitchen renovation saga be sure check them out before we dive into the installation of our snap in recessed lights.

As it stands, the only light source in this entire 160sf kitchen is this single boob light. In all of it's glory. 

We knew that with the full kitchen renovation around the corner we wanted to go ahead and update all of the lighting in the kitchen (and bring it to the 21st century) with recessed can lights. Because without good lighting, how were we supposed to start demo? ha

We picked up six of these EnviroLite Easy Up 6" LED recessed lights. They are really cool because they just snap into place with springs and don't require traditional can lighting housing, which makes them 100x easier to install. Plus at about $25 a pop they aren't shabby.

We measured out the distance from the wall all the way across the room. We wanted the cans to be 24" from the wall so that it would illuminate the workspace. A lot of people make the mistake of lining up recessed lighting with the walkways in the kitchen which causes you to be in your own shadow while working. 24" allowed the cans to be in front of the upper cabinets but still over the counters below. 

After dividing the length of the room into thirds, we marked where each can would be with painters tape. This allowed us to make any neccessary adjustments before it was too late and there were holes all over the ceiling. 

On the sink side of the kitchen we subtracted the depth of the upper cabinets so that the tape is still technically 24" from the wall (that's why it looks a lot closer than the other side).

After each marker was exactly where we wanted it, Derek drilled holes along the centerline of each light location. Then he placed a dowel through the ceiling into the attic so he would know exactly where each can light hole would need to be cut. 

I had the very important job of taping plastic bags around each dowel to catch all of the debris that would be cut out, to avoid more cleanup than neccessary. 

Derek used a Rotozip to cut each hole perfectly. See? This would have been a lot to clean up x6.

Then Derek used a parallel circuit for all of the new wires up in the attic, and pulled them through the holes to connect to each recessed light. 

After all of the recessed fixtures were in place then all that was left was to snap on the magnetic trim piece that came with each light. It hides any imperfections you may have had when cutting your holes for a nice clean look.

I just love how such a little change completely updated the space, and it's so much brighter now. How did we live like this for so long?

Stay tuned for Part IV of our kitchen renovation saga where I'll share the very terrifying demo process, and the retro wallpaper we uncovered.